“This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.”

One must be careful with this type of evidence; after all there is more than one reason for the Israeli political police, Shin Beth, to fake such a video. Moreover, considering the clothing of the participants it would be remarkably easy to falsify it even for the youngest agent, maybe as a graduation project. Yet, the video matches other developments on the ground and thus it is credible. It was posted on YouTube on December 15, 2012, by an alleged coalition of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These are the four main Palestinian political parties. Considering the disintegration of Palestine into Hamas-controlled Gaza and Fatah-controlled West Bank, this video is by itself groundbreaking news. However, it contains more than an image of unity. Its main message is “This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.” This will be achieved through the newly established “National Union Battalions.”

Let me translate this into simple terms. Following the acceptance of Palestine as an Observer State by the UN, the main Palestinian factions have united and declared Palestine’s Independence War on Israel. Is this credible? Will Palestine declare independence on May 14, 2013?

New Uprising

The video at the left was filmed the day before and shows violence in Hebron. Palestinian police officers are seen clashing with Hamas supporters during a rally in Hebron which marked the group’s 25th anniversary. The demonstrators marched from the city hall toward an Israeli checkpoint while the Palestinian officers attempted to disperse them. The demonstrators threw stones at them, and a number of them were detained. Due to resolution issues it is difficult to say for sure, but several Israeli soldiers may have participated in the event.

This may look like a contradiction to the claims made in the video above, but it is not so. It has been five years since Hamas supporters were allowed to gather in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority police was just making sure they would not reach the IDF checkpoint. Hence, the video supports the claim that a new coalition had been achieved.

Since November, there has been an increase in West Bank protests. According to the IDF, 130 attacks were launched from the West Bank in that month; most of them were defined as “difficult to contain.” AMAN, Israel’s military intelligence, reports a sharp increase in alerts suggesting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Moreover, Palestinian Authority police stopped arresting Hamas operatives in the West Bank, and they are allowed to act freely. The Shin Beth released reports claiming that the West Bank is ripe for a third Intifada. Thus, at least the message in the video above is credible.

False Trigger

The IDF is fighting an outdated war. One of its generals, who refused to be identified by name, said on the same day to Yedioth Aharonot, Israel’s largest newspaper, “There are two scenarios that may indicate the future: The reopening of Hamas’ da’wah [charity] institutions in the West Bank and the complete suspension of arrests of Hamas operatives.” He added that the trigger for a third Intifada may end up being Jewish terror, such as “Price Tag” acts or clashes between Palestinians and settlers. One of the saddest things in this world is an old general trying to repeat a war from his youth; this unnamed general did just that.

The First Intifada was formally triggered on December 8, 1987. Two days before that, an Israeli salesman had been stabbed to death in Gaza; denizens suspected a retaliation from Israel. Then, an IDF tank transporter ran into a group of Palestinians from Jabalya Refugee Camp in Gaza. It killed four and injured seven, creating what looked like a retaliation. Subsequent violent protests became the Intifada. Yet, the ground had been burning for months; in despair, the IDF sent training units to the Occupied Territories since the beginning of that year. Years later, in September 2000, the Palestinian unrest was of a similar magnitude. The Second Intifada began on September 28, 2000, when Ariel Sharon, Likud candidate for Israeli Prime Minister, entered the Temple Mount accompanied by over 1,000 security guards. He said, “the Temple Mount is in our hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount.” By the end of 2012, the IDF is betting on a third variant of the theme. Yet, recent Palestinian actions show that a similar scenario is unlikely to happen.

Phase is Everything in Life

“Phase is everything in life,” a physicist friend told me once, and I found it impossible to refute his claim. Anybody thinking that the Palestinians will follow in 2013 the same patterns as they did in 1987 and 2000 is at least out of phase with our world and probably out of touch with reality. As analyzed in May 14, 2013, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proved that he possesses a sharp historical perspective by concentrating his efforts on the recognition of Palestine as an Observer State on the anniversary of the historic 1947 vote on UN Resolution 181, better known as the UN Partition Plan of Palestine. He outsmarted Israel, which concentrated its efforts on the annulment of the resolution, instead of attempting to change its symbolic date. This was the act of a mature statesman who realized that the negotiations had entered a dead end alley. He is unlikely to surrender to settlers or IDF provocations and has a clear goal: complete independence. For historical reasons, his best choice would be May 14, 2013. Hence, the IDF’s published scenario is unlikely. The date the violent phase of the struggle will begin on is not related to Israeli actions.

Regardless of the name used by the media, the Third Intifada has not begun. What we are seeing is a Palestinian national, coordinated effort to achieve independence. The video on the top of this page announces the soon to begin Palestinian War of Independence. Are you ready, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz?

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I’d say that the Palestinian issue and even Gaza weighs upon the Muslim’s ability to ALLOW non-Muslims their spaces and respect the whole gamut of non-Muslim entertainments. Throughout this blog, there are instances of why Muslims should not be allowed to dominate the world. Muslims are incapable of governing diversity or understanding Voltarian freedoms such as accepting LGBT, gambling, alcohol, adult industry to list a few examples. Gaza (inequitable by location – no country can be in two parts in this manner – best that a land swop or ceding of the Gaza territory by Palestine occurs . . . ) and Palestine will NEVER be free until perhaps for a start the Islamist leaning government in malaysia ALLOWS all the above listed HUMAN RIGHTS the appropriate spaces and legal recognition and enforcement protections in a manner suitable and dignifying of the groups mentioned. This is why Palestine does not ‘deserve’ to exist, this is why Israel has a right to persecute Muslims, simply by the persecution applied by Muslims on non-Muslims elsewhere in the world .

There can be no protection or rights for Palestine so long as in places like Malaysia there are no rights granted on the above issues and more so when Palestine keeps firing rockets at Israel.

Even ‘Malay’ (half-Malay) exiles running away from Malaysia’s political fascism hate on LGBTs as well. RPK is a Malay writer who flip-flops but generally hates LGBT . . Impossible to teach some people(s) . . . so how can islam ‘civilise’ and abide by rights of access and expression on so many other ‘Haram Rights’ issues for non-Muslims?

ARTICLE 2

Yemen Times interview with Russian Ambassador Vladimir Trofimov: – “I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity.” (Report).

“I will be happy to answer all your questions,” said the Russian Federation’s Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Trofimov when we met him for an interview. He candidly opened his hands, “When it comes to Yemeni and Russian relations, we have no secrets.” Trofimov had been ambassador in Yemen for two and half years and is likely to continue for another one and half. Before that, he had been working for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 35 years, 22 of which were spent Arab countries.

He graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1974 and in 1986 graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has a Masters degree in History and speaks German, English, French and Arabic. He is married with one son who also works or the Foreign Service, specialized in Chinese affairs.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf interviewed Trofimov about Russia, Yemen and international affairs.

Every year, the Russian Federation provides Yemen with 80 Bachelor degree scholarships in many fields in addition to 45 scholarships for military degrees. A Yemeni-Russian Friendship Association recommends candidates for 20 of the general scholarships, while the remaining are decided on by the Ministry of Education.

Russia has investments in energy as it involved in the establishment of the Marib Power Plant, although it is keen on expanding to other fields when opportunity is available.

There are representatives of many large Russian industrial companies in Yemen and they are involved in energy and medical work, among other fields.

In the last few years, Russia canceled USD 5.5 billion of Yemen’s debts it the Russian Federation. And while Yemen still owes USD 1.2 billion, there is no pressure to return this amount as Yemen continues to pay an annual interest rate around no more than USD 20 million a year.

To Yemen, the Russian federation is not a donor country as such. However, it does help Yemen in facilitating agreements and supports Yemen’s development through expertise and discounted deals for equipment, arms, medicines and so forth.

Russians in Yemen

Formally, 500 Russians, mostly doctors and nurses, are registered with the embassy and have official state contracts. Yet the total Russian community in Yemen by far exceeds this number. Trofimov estimates that there are around 3,500 Russians living in Yemen, mainly in the medical field while others working in geological exploration among other disciplines.

Over the years, there have not been serious complaints raised by Russians living in Yemen and the general impression is that Russians feel safe across the country. They work in Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hadramout and Hodeidah. The embassy does not instruct its citizens where to go and where not to, as they have been evidently wise in their movement and work in Yemen.

“Even we at the embassy don’t believe that we need extra security measures despite the tragic incident of kidnapping and murdering foreigners in Sa’ada,” he said. “Thanks to the Yemeni government, security around the embassy is good enough.”

Security cooperation

Russia and Yemen signed a security cooperation agreement in 1998 and since then the two countries have exchanged expertise and Russia has supported Yemen with intelligence and military training, besides the 24 military scholarships every year.

During Saleh’s visit to Moscow this February, the two countries agreed on cooperation in combating terrorism and piracy. As a follow up, a specialized Russian delegation will be visiting Yemen in November this year to take the agreement further. There is talk of a joint Yemeni-Russian anti-terrorism and anti-piracy committee.

President Saleh also signed a deal to buy arms from Russia during his February visit. This is not the first time that Yemen buys weapons from Russia, who provides Yemen with discounted prices.

“We know Yemen is not a very rich country, so we do what we can to support Yemen’s sovernity and internal security, which is very important to us,” he said.

Yemen’s instability

“Our relations with Yemen are friendly and strong,” he said. “Our position is to firmly support Yemen’s unity and integrity.”

But Russia does not interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs like other countries do, Trofimov stressed. It trusts that the current president was elected by the people through a democratic process, and hence it is not fair to meddle into local affairs.

However, he believes that the instability in Yemen should not be over-dramatized. Another country with the amount of arms available in Yemen would have already been blown to pieces. Yemenis are therefore patient and calm people and are wise at handling their internal affairs.

The demonstrations in the south are economically based, and were triggered by some foreign and local political interests that do not represent all the Yemeni people.

“I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity,” he said.

International affairs

Russia intends to hold a Middle East Peace Conference in the coming months. Its interest in the region’s stability is not new, as it has played a role as a mediator among many conflicting parties of the region.

“We don’t call it the Middle East,” he said. “We call it the Near East because it is near to us. And naturally we are concerned with its stability and want to ensure peace in the region. We have no problem talking to anyone in the process of making peace.”

Hamas has always been a controversial file between Russia and the United States among other western countries. Although there are currently around one and half million Russian Jews in Israel, Russia’s friendly position towards Hamas, Fatah and Iran has been made clear on more than one occasion.

“Mish’al had been invited to Russia twice before and we are inviting him again to visit some time soon,” he explained. “We must not ignore the fact that his government was a legitimate one elected by the Palestinian people. If we don’t consider Israel who keeps killing dozens of Palestinians every day a terrorist state, why should we consider Hamas a terrorist organization?”

“Our policy is to have fair relations with all sides, so that we can play a balanced role in the region in order to maintain peace,” he concluded.

Similarly, Russia’s relations with eastern countries are also maintained on friendly levels. Russia has annual USD 30 billion trade agreements with China and strong relations with India, notably commercial ones, as well as with other Asian countries.

Whether the new US administration means different US policy in the Middle East region is yet to be seen. However, Trofimov does find the Obama administration has a warmer attitude towards Russia compared to the Bush administration which was rather “confrontational.”…

The decapitated bodies of a judge, his wife and son were found at their home in one of the biggest Ukrainian cities of Kharkov on Saturday, police said. The killers also targeted the son’s partner, her body being mutilated in the same way.

­Victims of the graphic murder were discovered at the apartment of Vladimir Trofimov, 58, a judge of the city district court.

“The murder took place in the morning, four bodies are decapitated,” police said.

“We do not exclude Trofimov’s professional activity as a motive which led to the crime. But we are also looking into other possible reasons,” Kharkhov District police chief, Viktor Kozitsky remarked.

Local media report that police registered an emergency call at around 13:00 pm (11:00 GMT). The caller told them that he had found mutilated bodies of his four relatives including Trofimov himself, his wife, 59, their son in his 30s and the son’s girlfriend, 29. The murder occurred on the day that Ukrainian court workers celebrate their professional holiday. Kharkov is Ukraine’s second-largest city located in the country’s east. It was one of four Ukrainian cities to host the UEFA’s major football tournament Euro 2012.

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Silenced by the Arabs IN Russia (beheading seems to indicate)? Or silenced by the Russians themselves (in Arab style so that a war can be declared by Russia against Arabs . . . maybe high time so long as Islamists cannot abide by protection and granting of spaces and freedoms for non-Muslim entertainments) for being a double agent for Arabs in Yemen? Scary to get involved with these sorts . . . Gulag! Or conversion! Bad choices all, though extreme-Capitalism is no better . . .

Yemeni military court sentenced 93 members of the Republican Guard to prison terms from three to seven years for an attempt to break into the Defense Ministry building in August.

The elite Republican Guard is led by Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, son of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who resigned from power in February after more than a year of protests, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

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Postulation : Looks like North Korea informing/selling info with that new satellite? Satellites could be BRAIN SCANNERS . . . Memories do not fade Russia, but Kim should know that blackmailing of Russia for WW2 incursions quietly in the background, will be more useful to Kim in the long run than exposing Russia to Islamists directly. As for the necessity due to Russian treachery or the regain national pride of WW2 atrocities, that could wait until the Islamists have pledged to protect and ensure non-Muslim lifestyles.

There is a ‘morality’ ‘key’ on satellite technology that can only be operated by certain types of Egregore/Subconsciousneses born from certain types of persons or those of sufficient strength among a nation’s citizentry. Should the Egregore or or Subconsciousneses assent to operate the Satellite via contract with the owner, the ALIENS waiting outside the Earth’s orbit are ready to communicate with the owner of the satellite via the subconscious or egregore.

The above series of events INCLUDING the mass shooting of 26+1 in Newport (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100321171), and Hillary’s ‘timely’ (if not contrived) illness and concussion circa 16th December 2012 could be a sort of warning or brain transplant, or soul exchange occuring.

As for Kim, the isolation was so severe that if the ALIEN theory is true, then NK communications would be as important to describe the nature of humanity than be suppressed as in the current form. ALIENS may not fully understand human emotions and societies and having only met a handful of satellites, might be misled to think every other human was not good or needed to be suppressed. NK’s satellite was piloted by the ‘14th Dec 2012 Egregore‘ and reached space where ALIENS learnt the nature of isolation and reputational sabotage by human nation against human nation.

The other method of piercing the atmosphere is via psychic broadcasting, where a psychic broadcasts upwards into the atmosphere (this can be intercepted or conducted away) but such signals are of interest to ALIENS being biological in nature, and are viewed equally as valid expressions of humanity as the satellite. ALIENS as of now may be on a fact collecting mission, and having discovered the abuses of certain human segments of society are on a ‘cleanup’ mission. Internet and mobile phone incidentally have been entirely infiltrated and are being loaded by aliens who study the emotions, if not neurotech scientists . . . the psychoatric establishment also attempts to shut off communications by heavily drugging psychics able to pierce the atmosphere, this is effetive partially when localized and with opponent psychics focusing against.

Any refutes and discussions to/against the (most admitedly viewed as outlandish) above post is welcome.

Nicky was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was 29
The condition makes her muscles tighten, leaving her unable to move
Nicky now poses as a frozen Marilyn Monroe for two hours at a time to raise money for charity

A Parkinson’s sufferer whose muscles stiffen as a result of the disease has turned her condition into an art-form – by becoming a human statue.

Mother-of-four Nicky Pywell was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was just 29 forcing her to give up her career as a gardener.

The neurological condition means that without medication Nicky’s muscles and joints contract and tighten – and she is unable to move.

Nicky during her Marilyn Monroe performance

Good cause: Nicky decided to harness her muscle rigidity for charity by posing as a living statue for money

Undeterred, courageous Nicky decided not to let the debilitating disease get in her way and used her newly found talent to pose as a living statue.

She now raises money for charity by doing a Marilyn Monroe impersonation in her home town of Coalville, Leicester, for two hours at a time.

The street-artist now makes up to £400-a-time for Parkinson’s UK with her popular performances.

The 35-year-old said: ‘I become a living statue for two-and-a-half hours. I get stiff, all my muscles get rigid and I’m unable to move if I don’t have my medication.

Toddler enjoys first family Christmas at home after having ELEVEN tumours removed from all over her body
One loving family and a lethal divide: Sam, 25, and dying of a brain tumour insists faith healing can cure him. His cancer-consultant father is desperate for him to trust doctors

‘It was the idea of being stiff that led to being a statue. I do take little breaks but every time I am out on the platform I don’t move.

‘I raised about £390 the first time. That was taken from sponsorships beforehand as well as people giving me some on the day.

‘I gave an envelope to everyone I met that week telling them about myself and what I was doing.

‘I love Marilyn Monroe – she was a good actress and beautiful and glamorous. I find it really fun, I enjoy it and people say I look like her.’

Ms Pywell first sought her GP’s advice after she thought she had pulled a muscle while using a hedge trimmer nine years ago.
Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

As time went on her left arm began to shake and drag but it took another three years and four neurologists to diagnose Nicky because doctors thought she was too young to suffer from Parkinson’s.

She added: ‘I was working as a self taught and self-employed gardener which I loved.

‘This particular day I was using a hedge trimmer and I thought I had just pulled a muscle. My left arm felt stiff.

‘I went to a walk in clinic and they gave me anti-inflammatory medicine, but it didn’t go away.

‘Then my left arm began to shake, and my left leg began to drag so much that it affected my driving.

‘Over the next three years I saw three or four different neurologists. None of them thought it could be Parkinson’s because I was so young.

‘Eventually my new GP sent me to a different neurologist at Leicester General Hospital. They admitted me to the ward, and Parkinson’s was finally diagnosed.

‘The medication they put me on worked very quickly and I was able to walk out of hospital.

‘I felt that things were finally getting under control, with the help of my Parkinson’s nurse.

‘Giving up my gardening career was one of the hardest things for me. Now, I’m taking each day as it comes.

‘People aren’t aware that I’ve got it unless I tell them and you get funny looks from people who make assumptions.

‘It’s much more likely that people think you’re drunk or taking drugs. For me to accept I’ve got Parkinson’s it was easier for me if I told the world rather than tell people one by one. It’s something I’ve learned to live with and not to be ashamed of.’

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Actually the psychic or astral imprinting issue is a viable problem to be considered with people with illnesses displaying themselves as role models. The best would be for warning to accompany with the ‘statue busker’ that has an illness (which spoils the work), or to have people in perfect health AND a family history free of disease that do not need warnings. That way, HEALTHINESS can be psychically imprinted upon the passers by rather than ‘wiping off’ of illness (if even intended or possible being in such a poor state of health) on the casual onlooker. Subconsciously those less wary or unaware may end up psychically ‘imitating’ Parkinsons disease while out of ignorance due to attraction for Marilyn Monroe and hence there must be some forethought and caution on the part of the audience as well even as the worker puts themselves out on a limb as well.

Some of the people who are knowledgeable about this may not practice or are coordinated well in actual practice, conversely those who practice well (a large majority I would say), do not know how to communicate this being unschooled in occult language. Then there are those fractured by the psychiatric establishment for being too strong or too aware, but thats another neurotech tagged article on this blog for those who care to browse . . .

President Barack Obama wipes a tear as he speaks about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, …An emotional President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to “take meaningful action, regardless of the politics,” to prevent future tragedies like the shooting massacre Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“Our hearts are broken today,” Obama said in a brief statement at the White House briefing room, frequently pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.”

Obama expressed sorrow for the victims’ loved ones and sympathy for the parents of the children who survived but who know that “their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early.”

“As a country we have been through this too many times,” Obama said, listing a series of mass shootings over the past few years in places like Aurora, Colo.

“These neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” he stressed.

Earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that “today’s not the day” to talk about possible new gun control steps meant to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Obama ordered flags over government facilities to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Dec. 18. Shortly after he spoke, Connecticut State Police said the death toll included 20 children, six adults and the shooter.

Obama learned of the rampage at 10:30 a.m. from Homeland Security adviser John Brennan. He later discussed it by telephone with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Obama’s reference to acting “regardless of the politics” seemed likely to be a reference to deep opposition in Congress to new gun control legislation.

“Today’s not … a day to engage in the usual Washington policy debates,” Carney told reporters. “That day will come, but today’s not that day.” Carney said renewing a federal assault weapons ban “does remain a commitment” of the president. The ban expired in 2004, and Obama has taken no serious steps to renew it on Capitol Hill.

Carney declined to answer repeated questions on when would be an appropriate time for lawmakers in Washington to discuss possible actions to prevent future tragedies. “Our minds and our focus need to be on what’s happening there and providing assistance where we can to those who need it,” he said, urging “enormous sympathy for the families that are affected.”

One reporter pointed to Obama’s remarks in July just days after a shooting spree that left 12 dead and about 60 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

“I hope that over the next several days, next several weeks and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country,” Obama said at the time.

Obama has made similar comments before, including at a January 2011 memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., in which then-Rep. Gabby Giffords was grievously wounded.

“We have to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future,” Obama said. “But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. That we cannot do.”

Republican House Speaker John Boehner likewise ordered the Stars and Stripes lowered over the Capitol.

“The horror of this day seems so unbearable, but we will lock arms and unite as citizens, for that is how Americans rise above unspeakable evil,” Boehner said in a written statement. “Let us all come together in God’s grace to pray for the families of the victims, that they may find some comfort and peace amid such suffering.

“Let us give thanks for all those who helped get people to safety, and take heart from their example. The House of Representatives—like every American—stands ready to assist the people of Newtown, Connecticut,” Boehner said.

A country where every geezer or child is armed to the teeth is impossible to invade. Think Afghanistan where the kids casually carry around missile launchers or where an assault rifle is giiven as a coming of manhood gift. The above pic is of Russian origin. Does USA understand that people kill people and not guns kill people? Screening for psychos (psychiatrists kill with medications ALL THE TIME, so ban psychiatric meds . . . ) is the main issue.

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Absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Suggest that ALL owners of PRIVATE temples and churches be implanted with neurotech. Also all neurosurgeons who are able to implant neurotech and sellers of neurotech be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL private hospital committee chairs (or anyone with the authority to authorize bonuses), and ALL public listed company chairs serving more than 2 terms also required to be implanted with neurotech. ALL psychiatrists with the authority to implant neurotech be implanted with neurotech so that audits of all individuals possibly overseen by WHO can be done to see that abuse of political opponents and activists be prevented. Coroners who might have access to the dead and ‘used’ neurotech should also be implanted as well. The security people working at cushy jobs in nuke or dangerous weapon stockpiles also should be considered, to prevent bribery by unfriendly forces.

ALL neurotech implants should be registered with WHO and INTERPOL and deactivatable from WHO and INTERPOL to prevent abuse. ALL cabinet ministers related to security or neurotech based surveillance should be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL top police persons with access to neurotech devices be implanted with neurotech so that the NEUTRAL MEMBERS of public (i.e. no relatives, no neighbours, no people from the same establishment or work place) can do audits.

All neurotech implants NOT registered will be considered illegal. This way even banks and major companies leaking secrets and funds to unfriendly (not necessarily Muslet companies, but given the ‘War on terror’ the most infiltrations should likely be Muslet friendly ‘Whites’ of multifaith households or multifaith ‘toting’, yet Islamist leaning countries like Malaysia or some parts of Europe).

ARTICLE 5

New Russian motto: Legalize prostitution – collect taxes – 07.12.2012

The situation on the Russian market of sex services may soon dramatically change. Prostitutes will not be cheaper, and the moral climate in the society will not get better. Instead of vulnerability before the officials and clients, prostitutes would have “safety certificates” and those enjoying their bodies would have confidence that they are not dealing with a hotbed of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. A conference to discuss the initiative on the development of a law on legalization of prostitution was held in Moscow under the motto “legalize prostitution – collect taxes”. The idea was supported by a State Duma deputy from the party “United Russia” Joseph Kobzon.

The initiative on legalization of prostitution and the conference was originated by the fund “Morality Police.” The document of the organization, called a draft federal law “On state regulation and control of sexual services” suggested calling prostitutes “individual entrepreneurs engaged in providing sexual services,” and their clients – “consumers of sexual services.” The authors of the bill proposed to consider underground prostitution only sexual activities meant to obtain “income in the form of money or other material benefits.” The bill addresses the relationship between “entrepreneurs” and “consumers” as well as tax and other government agencies.

Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon supported the idea of ??the bill with reservations. He noted that the bill was just an excuse to start a great debate, perhaps even a referendum. “As soon as the State Duma starts drafting a law on prostitution, it will immediately raise the question of the need of its approval in the second reading by the government and presidential administration. Once the government feels that this law has a financial component, […] that there will be a need to allocate money from the budget to combat prostitution, it will be voted down,” said Kobzon. According to him, the money will be needed first of all for the maintenance of the new police unit – morality police.

Speaking after Kobzon, spokeswoman of the informal union of sex workers “Silver Rose” Oksana Yartseva noted that taxes that are rampant in prostitution “settle in the pockets of corruption.”

De facto prostitution flourishes in Russia, and the existing laws are obsolete. In the current Russian legislation Article 6.11 in the Code of Administrative Offences provides for a fine for prostitution between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles. There are two articles of the Criminal Code against pimps and keepers of brothels. They are “Involvement in prostitution” (up to a maximum of eight years in prison) and “Organization of prostitution” (ten years).

The conference overlooked the fact that talking about prostitutes we normally think of women, and thinking of customers we think of men only, which is not quite true. Everyone knows about the existence of male prostitution – and not just for the gay.

Sociologist Olga Kryshtanovskaya was among the most prominent opponents of legalization of prostitution at the conference. She did not like the fact that “it can be done by any girl who graduated from high school.” The opponents of this bill have two main arguments. The law on the legalization of prostitution is contrary to the traditional moral values ??and would lead to a greater spread of this vicious phenomenon. Ms. Kryshtanovskaya who specializes in the study of elites also mentioned sex tourism: “Would we face a huge influx of migrant sex tourists who will be coming along with their male migrant workers? How will it impact our demographic situation?”

In contrast to the arguments of morality and increasing number of prostitutes, the rhetorical question of Olga Kryshtanovskaya is very pertinent. The first oldest profession safely existed from time immemorial and, apparently, in one form or another will exist as long as the human race exists. As for Christianity, according to Jesus, individual prostitutes have a chance to enter the kingdom of heaven before priests and the elders. The spread of prostitution, as noted by Joseph Kobzon, is affected by social problems.

As long as Russia stays a poor country, the officials should think hard before legalizing prostitution. Otherwise, Russia can turn into semblance of Thailand that has become the center of world sex tourism. Russia should also look at the experience of Germany. Prostitution in Germany is legal in Protestant lands and prohibited in Catholic Bavaria. However, the ban does not lead to the destruction of brothels but, rather, drives them underground.

Igor Bukker

Pravda.Ru

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Igor? We all know that the regime establishment, chauvinists and militant feminists thrive off the sexual frustration of either gender. Prostitution if legalized will remove this element of psychic abuse from society and even prevent abuse especially FROM the hetero religious establishment fundos. The officials have been thinking ‘hard’, but Igor has been thinking ‘soft’. If Russia turns into the semblance of Thailand, one can only see the downfall of Capitalism as Socialism takes control when business goes to Russia. The economic vibrancy (we all know that places where the most entertainment occur is also where the biggest deals get done) of a Thailand-like Russia would dominate the world. Why would Igor not want that? Fifth columnist fronting for Capitalism? Igor is an ‘Igor’ for the Frankenstein of USA’s extreme-Capitalists (much like Islamists) . . .

European kindergartens and schools may ban children’s books and fairy tales that depict the traditional family. This is a request of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights. According to the committee, fairy tales should talk about sexual diversity. Norwegian experts believe that children benefit from watching porn.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality prepared a report that calls for a ban of all books that show the traditional family where the father is the breadwinner and the mother takes care of the children in schools and day care centers of Europe. According to the authors, these books are bad for the future life of children, especially girls, and promote wrong behavioral patterns. In the future, it may prevent them from building a career.

Feminists are concerned that children from an early age are constantly faced with “negative gender stereotypes” in television shows and commercials. The word “negative” in the report is synonymous with the word “traditional”. Over time, the ban would be extended to television and advertising. So far it was decided to start with books.

The authors of the report strongly recommend urgent legislative measures in the field of children’s literature. In particular, they suggest introducing a policy of “equality of all social sectors.” An example of alternative children’s literature is a book “King and King” with kissing men on the cover. According to the report, this would help children to learn about the “true sexual diversity of society.”

In fact, such measures have already been taken in some countries, particularly in Scandinavian ones that consider themselves the vanguard of Western democracy. “Pravda.Ru” once reported about a Swedish toy manufacturer that issued a catalog before Christmas where girls were pictured shooting imaginary enemies with laser guns, and boys were depicted playing with dolls.

This was a requirement of the Swedish advertising regulator who accused the toy manufacturer of sexism and imposition of negative gender stereotypes. Norwegian kindergartens in 2010 introduced a program of compulsory sex education focusing on sexual minorities.

The report of the European Parliament also insisted that “homosexuality should be taught in kindergarten as a form of experience and knowledge.” According to them, this will expand the concept of “gender identity” for children. “Sexual diversity should be obvious to children. Children need to know that this is normal when your parents are gay or lesbian.”

For some reason, not all parents are willing to believe that this is “normal.” In Norway Muslim community strongly opposed such education in kindergartens. They threatened to withdraw their children from such institutions or create an alternative.

For the “dark” parents who are not aware of the latest trends in sex education in modern society, Norway’s largest newspaper VG Nett recently published an opinion of psychologists and sex therapists who said that it was beneficial for children to watch porn on the internet.

“Parents should not be afraid of their children’s sexuality. Conversely, from a health perspective it is beneficial to watch porn at a time when parents and children talk openly about these issues,” said psychologist and sex researcher Andres Lindskog.

He was commenting on a statement recently issued by an expert from the organization Save the Children, who expressed concern about the fact that increasingly more children and teenagers were addicted to watching pornographic sites on the Internet.

Anders Lindskog is convinced that there is no addiction or harm from this. “It’s important for parents to understand that children are born with sexuality and follow their biology. Children have the same feelings as adults,” said the expert.

After that, should we be surprised that the number of cases of pedophilia is growing in Norway? They mostly occur within the family. A few days ago, newspapers wrote about another such case. A couple, a husband and wife, subjected their three children under 10 years of age to violence and sexual perversions for years.

The children confirmed the violence to the police. But that does not mean that the punishment will be sufficiently severe. In Norway, pedophilia is considered a disease and is listed in the Medical Register. For this reason, pedophiles are given short sentences – from several months to several years. In some cases punishment could be limited to penalty only. In the end, parents can always say that they practiced “diversity of sexual relations.”

Svetlana Smetanina

Pravda.Ru

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Since brain scanning neurotech use is rampant, the issue of abuse and consent as well as TRUE (non-contrived) experimentation among children and conscientious NON-ABUSIVE AND NON-PREDATORY AND NON-EXPLOITATIVE adults that are not a form of uncontrolled incest, should be considered as part of the law making process. There should be no ‘top-secret’ preventions in the expositions of technology and application to the populace any more to prevent abuse and Orwellian dictatorships, hidden or not.

As for feminists or chauvinists, these groups should be allowed to exist as well and educate in the form they would prefer (i.e. disallowing fairytales) BUT may only ‘recruit or induct’ from children who have been determined to have NATURAL PROPENSITY OR GRAVITATION BY A NEUTRAL PANEL and consensually chose the subculture . . . *NOT* even children of arbitrarily feminists or chauvinists by nature should be forced into this sub-culture.

That would mean that Feminists and Chauvinists would continue to exist as a social group, but only be based around affirmation of the type of person, which a child MUST independently decide, and choose from A LIST OF ALL VARIANTS OF SUBCULTURES which must be part of early education. Meanwhile parents back home must be taught to not *forcibly inculpate* ANY values so that the child may grow up independently to decide what they want, NOT what the parents want. Invariably, the traditional family would doubtless survive as well – PROVIDED the issue of land and wealth distribution is resolved and do not from lack of distribution cause poverty to influence the child’s decision and choice as well.

Warren Buffett, the investor famous for betting on aging industries like railroads and insurance, is now trying to pull off something other billionaires have tried and failed to do: save the newspaper business.

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has spent more than $342 million on 80 newspapers — including its hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald — and used them to build a new business unit. And Buffett isn’t done. Though the division announced plans to close an underperforming newspaper in Virginia last month, he’s said that more acquisitions may be in store.

Terry Kroeger, the newly installed chief of Buffett’s newspaper empire, runs the operation from a 15th-floor office overlooking the expanse of wide streets that make up Omaha, Neb. The goal, Kroeger says, is to reintroduce newspapers to what they do best: delivering urgent, local information that readers can’t get elsewhere — and coaxing people into paying for it. He’s also creating offshoot websites with corporate sponsors and branching out into Internet video.

“We’ve got to evolve with what people are looking for, and I think our industry has done kind of a crappy job with that,” Kroeger, 50, said in an interview.

Kroeger, who started working at the World-Herald 27 years ago, once kept a pair of sneakers under his desk to mow the lawn whenever the grass around the office building got unsightly. Just like in those early days, it’s essential to charge readers for the reporting that journalists provide, he said. The World- Herald erected a so-called pay wall last year, and Kroeger aims to roll out the same approach across his other newspapers.

“You can’t spend millions of dollars assembling something and then give it away,” he said, endorsing a strategy adopted by the New York Times, News Corp.’s Wall Street Journal and most of Gannett Co.’s papers.

The World-Herald, Buffett’s flagship paper, will see its revenue decline this year as circulation shrinks, Kroeger said. It generates about $100 million annually and remains profitable, said Kroeger, who declined to elaborate on its finances.

Buffett’s acquisition of 63 newspapers from Media General earlier this year accounts for most of the newspaper unit. Based on Media General statements, those newspapers generated $299.6 million last year, a 50 percent decline from 2006.

Kroeger said that Buffett’s total newspaper division is in the black and should remain so, despite the shrinking revenue.

“We’re profitable this year,” he said. “I have a high degree of confidence we will remain profitable next year as well. We’re very high on the industry.”

The paywall has helped support revenue, though the program is still in the early stages, he said. The World-Herald’s circulation, meanwhile, has continued to shrink. It fell 3.2 percent in weekday readership to 130,932 from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Alliance for Audited Media. The Sunday edition dropped 2.9 percent to 165,397.

Even if the paywall draws help boost subscriptions, the move is more of a palliative than a cure, Kroeger said.

“We have to get into new businesses,” he said.

One such venture, already under way, aggregates health-care articles from the World-Herald and other Berkshire-owned Nebraska newspapers into a website sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. The site, which is freely available to readers, has advertising in addition to the sponsorship.

The risk is that sponsorships jeopardize a newspaper’s objectivity, especially when it comes to medical information, said Todd Gitlin, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Kroeger said the arrangement with Blue Cross doesn’t affect the content.

The broader question is whether newspapers can evolve quickly enough to revive a decaying business. They’re confronting shrinking demand for print advertising, declining circulation, and encroachment from Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. The industry’s ad dollars dropped 6.6 percent in the first six months of 2012 from a year earlier, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

While community papers have an edge over publications in crowded media markets, no one has found a way out of the slump, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell in Burlingame, Calif.

“There’s no silver bullet,” he said. Newspapers in many places had enjoyed a near-monopoly pricing on print advertising, Doctor said. “That’s not coming back — for anybody.”

Kroeger said last month the company will shutter the Virginia-based Manassas News & Messenger, one of Buffett’s most recent acquisitions, and cut 105 jobs in the process. The newspaper faced too much direct competition from other papers in the area, which includes Washington, and was continuing to lose money, Kroeger said in the World-Herald.

“We didn’t see any way to really turn it back into a profitable enterprise, reliably, so what made the most sense was to just cease publication,” he said.

Other billionaires have tried and failed to turn around the newspaper business. Tribune Co., the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy in 2008, one year after a buyout led by real-estate magnate Sam Zell.

Buffett’s gamble is less ambitious. His recent spending spree on newspapers amounted to less than two-tenths of 1 percent of Berkshire’s total market value.

He also may have more success than others, said Don Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Co. Part of Berkshire’s strategy is focusing on smaller market papers that don’t have to compete with other media, Graham said.

“When you get larger, you get challenged by more forms of media competition for advertising delivery,” he said last week at an investor conference. “Anybody who really focuses on the newspaper business should be studying one company this year: Berkshire Hathaway.”

At Buffett’s Omaha paper, Kroeger is investing in high- definition video equipment, with an eye toward doing an online sports show featuring its reporters. That’s something major market newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have tried. Unlike those national publications, though, Buffett’s newspapers embrace a simple tenet: All news is local.

“The community aspect of what we do is so important,” Kroeger said. “Obituaries, for example, are huge. You want to find out how big a deal that is? Misspell somebody’s name in an obituary — once. You’ll never do it again. These things matter to people.”

Kroeger’s first job at the paper was as an assistant purchasing agent. He negotiated for newsprint costs from vendors and made sure the company’s trucks had enough gas to make their deliveries every day.

“I was pretty low on the food chain,” he said. “It’s where I learned about the nuts and bolts of the business.”

Buffett is a longtime investor in newspapers, though never at this scale in the past. Buffett’s interest in the industry had been mostly limited to a stake in the Washington Post and the 1977 purchase of the Buffalo News, which is run separately from Kroeger’s operations. Its publisher, Stan Lipsey, reports directly to Buffett. Berkshire also owns a stake in Gannett, the publisher of USA Today.

Buffett is the second-richest American, after Microsoft’s Bill Gates, with an estimated worth of $46.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s made him one of the highest-profile backers of print journalism.

“I’ve loved newspapers all my life — and always will,” Buffett wrote in a letter to employees of his newspapers earlier this year, before going on to say that he will probably buy more papers over the next few years. Buffett’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Kroeger declined to discuss the company’s future takeover targets. Other newspaper businesses focused on smaller markets include McClatchy Co., a publisher of 30 daily newspapers such as the Sacramento Bee, and E.W. Scripps Co., which operates 15 newspapers from Cincinnati. Tribune Co.’s newspapers also will be put up for sale as the company emerges from bankruptcy later this month, people familiar with the matter said this week.

Buffett, born in Omaha, has been a loyal subscriber to the World-Herald for most of his adult life and understands the challenges the paper faces, Kroeger said.

“He knows it’s not going to be easy turning things around,” Kroeger said. “He gets what we do here and he’s been incredibly helpful, generous with his time, offering advice when he can.”

Still, Buffett doesn’t influence news coverage, said Mike Reilly, the World-Herald’s executive editor. And there’s been no shift in how the paper covers him, he said. For years, the paper has run a weekly column on the billionaire called “Warren Watch,” something that continues under Buffett’s ownership.

“There hasn’t been any change in how I run the newsroom,” Reilly said. “We used to cover the heck out of him and we still cover the heck out of him.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Starting from articles on the net, the number of hits should decide WHICH articles get published on solid paper. The hits online determine how much a person gets paid for an article (this should be capped at a limit of minimum wage per SERIOUS article or if the – we can’t have people getting millions at the company’s expense for A SINGLE ARTICLE), THEN the article gets published BECAUSE of many hits. This way articles that people do not read are left out, and the 99% decide what gets published instead of the editors who are doubtless controlled by the political regime of the day. For non-serious articles or trivia like music launches, celebs or fashion the rate should be at 5% of minimum wage per article, as we do know that a single journalist can churn out dozens a week and these automatically get ‘hits’ because of the shallow masses or tired minds looking for something simple. Various articles of similar types could appear all at once, so the top 20 top hits of the same article perhaps could be edited AND the ‘minimum wage purse’ be shared among journalists who independently found the article on their own (reposters not counted). As for comments, the ‘average annual wage’ purse could be shared for the top 10% of comments so that feedback is also included. Newspapers should not pontificate but also include comments as well.

ARTICLE 8

Susan Rice withdraws from running for secretary of state – live coverage – guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 December 2012 23.11 GMT

Susan Rice

UN ambassador tells Obama ‘I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly’

As news of Rice’s withdrawal broke, the president entered a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner on how the two sides might come to a fiscal cliff compromise.

If the president caved on Rice, does that mean he’s in a cave-y mood generally?

The deputy chief of staff for the speaker’s office, David Schnittger, says the meeting has concluded, but he isn’t saying what happened.

The @whitehouse #fiscalcliff meeting between @speakerboehner and President Obama has concluded.
— David Schnittger (@OhSchnitt) December 13, 2012

11.11pm GMT

Slate’s Dave Weigel calls it. That guy’s good.

I just hope McCain makes a rare Sunday show appearance to discuss this news.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) December 13, 2012

Potential defense secretary Chuck Hagel, a former colleague of John Kerry’s on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and like Kerry a Vietnam vet, is not regarded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to be an especially faithful friend to Israel, Eli Lake reports in the Daily Beast (Aipac never takes formal positions on nominees):

A senior pro-Israel advocate in Washington told The Daily Beast on Thursday, “The pro-Israel community will view the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel in an extremely negative light. His record is unique in its animus towards Israel.”

Josh Block, a former spokesman for AIPAC and the CEO and president of the Israel Project, told The Daily Beast, “While in the Senate, Hagel voted against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, refused to call on the E.U. to designate Hezbollah a terrorist group, and consistently voted against sanctions on Iran for their illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. It is a matter of fact that his record on these issues puts him well outside the mainstream Democratic and Republican consensus.”

11.02pm GMT
Kerry: ‘we should all be grateful’ for Rice’s service

Ewen MacAskill sends John Kerry’s statement on the withdrawal of Susan Rice:

I’ve known and worked closely with Susan Rice not just at the UN, but in my own campaign for President. I’ve defended her publicly and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again because I know her character and I know her commitment. She’s an extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant. Today’s announcement doesn’t change any of that. We should all be grateful that she will continue to serve and contribute at the highest level. As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty. Kerry did not want to respond to questions from reporters about recent talk that Kerry is a top candidate to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty.
10.57pm GMT

Let’s hope Kerry recovers from his conflicted feelings about Rice’s political troubles in time to put a cheerful face on it should he be nominated to take the job that was supposed to be hers.

“I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks.” — John Kerry on Susan Rice. — The Fix (@TheFix) December 13, 2012

Heh.

If Kerry as Sec’y of State is half as effective against Iran’s mullahs as he was against Susan Rice, I’m for him — Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) December 13, 2012 10.43pm GMT

Updated at 10.47pm GMT

Who, apart from Sen. John McCain, is most pleased by today’s news? There’s reason to speculate that outgoing Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown might not be taking it so badly.

Brown is expected to be a front-runner to fill Kerry’s senate seat if Kerry gets the state nod. Here’s ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield:

…with Rice out of the running, Kerry is “all but certain” to get the nomination, according to ABC’s Jake Tapper. That means a vacant seat and a special election, which could benefit out-going Sen. Scott Brown, who lost his bid for reelection to Elizabeth Warren in November. […] Brown’s victory in a special election would not be a sure thing. Although he leaves office with high approval ratings- exit polls from the 2012 election showed him with a favor-ability rating of 60 percent- but Massachusetts is a solidly Democratic state, and there are many Democrats in elected office in the state who could challenge Brown. 10.37pm GMT

The uproar over Rice’s statements on Benghazi was fueled by a desperate attempt to score points during the presidential campaign, as Tom Ricks so bluntly explained on Fox News. Then Obama was reelected and the continued campaign against Rice began to look especially unhinged.

Consider Iowa Rep. Steve King, who today said the Benghazi scandal is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals combined, the Washington Times reported (h/t: @batterdippin):

“(Watergate) was a break-in that Nixon had no knowledge of at the time. It became about the cover-up,” King said. “Iran-Contra, again, as far as the real depths of what went wrong and who violated what laws, we didn’t really get that identified in there. … This is a case where we had an ambassador who was assassinated. He and the others were victims of a plot and a plan. We were willfully and intentionally misinformed by the White House. You know, if Richard Nixon tried to cover up Watergate, that’s an easy case to make that the Obama administration didn’t want us to know what has gone on. We still don’t know.”

This kind of circus wackiness, among other factors, made the case against Rice look weak. It looked like something a newly empowered president could bulldoze through. In late November, John Heilemann in New York Magazine went so far as to list five reasons why a Rice confirmation was a done deal:

As a rule, your columnist avoids predictions, but in the spirit of holiday indulgence, I will make an exception here: Not only will Obama appoint Rice to succeed Clinton but she will be confirmed.

Here’s Heilemann’s fourth reason:

4. Because McCain is being a jackass—and Obama is sick of it. Arguably more than any other national figure, the senior senator from Arizona is driven in every aspect of his public behavior by personal pique. In the wake of the 2000 Republican nomination fight, when he believed Bush and his campaign had defeated him by nefarious means, McCain lunged to the center and became one of the sharpest thorns in the side of the new president from his own party. In the wake of the 2008 election, when he was soundly thumped by a Democratic challenger whom he regarded as a neophyte and a pretender whose experience and valor were no match for his own, McCain immediately shed all traces of mavericky independence and became one of Obama’s fiercest critics from the right. […]

Apparently Obama wasn’t so sick of it. 10.27pm GMT

Updated at 10.30pm GMT

FILE – DECEMBER 13: Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from the running for Secretary of State. NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 30: Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City. UN Security Council negotiations regarding the situation in Syria collapsed last month. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Continuity Horizontal Syria USA New York City Meeting Politics Ambassador UN Security Council United Nations Blocked Terms Diplomacy Attending Permanent Representative Susan Rice Situation Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City.
10.13pm GMT

TPM’s Igor Bobic has a longer excerpt from Rice’s interview with Brian Williams to air tonight. Rice says that she didn’t want to see a disruptive confirmation process:

Today I made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the American people that I not continue to be considered by the president for secretary of state because I didn’t want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting, and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done as a country, and the first several months of a second-term president’s agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done. We’re talking about comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, that’s what matters, and to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted or deflected or maybe even some of these priorities impossible to achieve, I didn’t want that and I’d much prefer to continue doing what I’m doing, which is a job I love at the United Nations. 10.11pm GMT

The GOP, Michelle Obama and favors to repay

Guardian Washington bureau chief Ewen MacAskill observes that the president was in a tight spot over the secretary of state nomination – but now he is not:

The Republicans might have done Obama a favour. The president was under pressure from two of the women in his life, wife Michelle and adviser Valerie Jarrett, to give the job to their friend Rice rather than to Kerry. Obama owes Kerry, having used him repeatedly as an envoy to help with sensitive issues such as relations with the Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai. Kerry was also the Mitt Romney stand-in during presidential debate practice. Rice had the necessary diplomatic credentials. She has been right about more issues than she has been wrong, being an early champion of the West taking a tougher line on the Darfur issue. But when she has failed, she has failed badly. She was responsible for African affairs in the Clinton administration, and critics – fairly or unfairly – blame her for doing little to prevent the rapid disintegration of the Congo, a conflict that is estimated to have cost at least two million lives.

On a small scale, she was humiliated a fortnight ago when the UN general assembly voted in favour of a step towards Palestinian statehood. Showing none of the humility such a defeat deserved, she put her head down in the assembly to read out a defiant statement that would have pleased few outside of Israel. Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, has much wider experience in the diplomatic world, and knows already many of the world leaders. Rice’s departure from the field will be greeted with relief in foreign ministries round the world who have been on the receiving end of her rough tongue: that is, most of them. For the same reason, her continuation as UN ambassador will be greeted with groans at other UN missions. 10.06pm GMT

How spontaneous is the Rice news? She’s already taped an entire interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, a snippet of which just aired.

Rice said that the president’s second term would see “an attempt to get the crucial things done… [and] to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted [from these priorities]… I didn’t want that.”

She told Williams she’ll stay on as UN ambassador.

It’s gracious boilerplate for withdrawing nominees.

was #Susan Rice pushed or did she jump? — Barbara Slavin (@barbaraslavin1) December 13, 2012

9.59pm GMT
The rise and fall of the next secretary of state

At what point did the president decide the fight over Rice wasn’t worth it?

Obama was still fully behind his potential nominee when she made her trip to the Capitol Hill woodshed at the end of November, meeting with Sens. McCain, Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), Kelly Ayotte, (R-NH) and others.

“The concerns I have are greater today than they were before, we’re not even close to having the answers,” said Graham at a joint press conference following the meeting. “The American people got bad information on Sept. 16, bad information from the president after that, and the question is, should they have been given any information at all?”

Republicans accused Rice of misleading Congress and the public about what happened in Benghazi in the Sept. 11 attack that killed Amb. J. Christopher Stevens, a computer technician and two security contractors employed by the CIA.

The Obama administration, led publicly by Rice, initially made the attack on a US mission out to be part of a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islam video that had provoked such a protest that day in Cairo and elsewhere.

Later it emerged that there was no protest, that the attack was planned and that the mission was attached to a covert CIA post.

Five days after the attack, Rice made this misleading statement on NBC’s Meet the Press:

What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video. Opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. They came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and it escalated into a much more violent episode. In the face of GOP criticism, the president said Rice was simply passing on the best information the intelligence community had at the time.

“If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” Obama said. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous.”

Instead Republicans decided to continue to go after Rice, a lead adviser on the president’s first campaign.

Rice was not just another adviser; aides of both have told me Obama considered her someone he had a strong kinship with. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012

She was one of first national security wonks to join his camp in 2007 and played a big role suggesting Obama was experienced enough. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012 9.55pm GMT

The Guardian’s Chris McGreal notes that criticism of Rice went beyond her performance after the Benghazi attack:

Although Republican ire focused on Rice’s role in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, she faced strong criticism from other quarters over her backing of African despots and her unflinching support of Israel. Hours before Rice withdrew from the race, Robert Wexler, a six-term former congressman who now heads a pro-Israel think tank in Washington, said of her that “Israel has no greater champion in the current administration than Susan Rice”. That’s a view shared by some of her critics who say she has gone beyond the call of duty in projecting US policy on Israel to became a passionate defender of the Jewish state despite Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies, calling criticism at the UN “anti-Israel crap”. Rice went to lengths to woo the biggest of the pro-Israel lobby groups, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rice has also come under strong criticism over her positions on Africa, most recently for trying to suppress a UN report strongly critical of the Rwandan government’s arming and other support for rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rice was a national security official in Bill Clinton’s White House who played a part in the US’s failure to act against the 1994 genocide of Rwanda’s Tutsis. Since then she has been an unswerving supporter of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, who as a Tutsi rebel leader put a stop to the genocide even in the face of a growing body of evidence his forces are bound up with years of war crimes in Congo. Rice has also come under criticism for supporting other authoritarian leaders in Africa. In September she delivered a eulogy for the late prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, calling him “brilliant” and a “a true friend to me”. Meles had a long track record of bloody suppression of democracy. 9.39pm GMT

“I will do everything in my power to block [Rice] from being the United States secretary of state. She has proven that she either doesn’t understand or she is not willing to accept evidence on its face. There is no doubt five days later what this attack was and for” – Sen. John McCain on Fox News, Nov. 14, 2012

US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012. The 8th Manama Dialogue organized by the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which will run until 9 December 2012 will focus predominantly on Syria and broad regional security issues. EPA/MAZEN MAHDI US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012.

McCain reaches for the brandy and mutters to himself, “It’s a great day for America.” Fade out. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 13, 2012 9.35pm GMT

To many seasoned observers it looks like the president has just lost a high-profile fight with Republicans over a potential nominee he has very publicly defended, indeed is personally linked to.

BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith is reminded of the bloody Cabinet fights of Obama’s first term, when he had to nominate three commerce secretaries, including Bill Richardson, before he got one through, and when former Sen. Tom Daschle failed as a health secretary nominee. A bit of a repeat of very early term 1, esp on national security: Obama, bloodied up a little by the Hill, shows weakness. — Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) December 13, 2012 9.29pm GMT

Hagel thought to be front-runner for defense slot

Rice’s withdrawal isn’t the only action in cabinet shuffling this afternoon. Earlier today Bloomberg News reported that former Sen. Chuck Hagel had the completed the vetting process to be the secretary of defense nominee. The report describes Hagel as “the leading candidate to become Obama’s next Secretary of Defense.”

Another senator, John Kerry, also had been mentioned as a potential defense pick, perhaps as a consolation prize were he to be denied the job he really wants, secretary of state, which was thought to be occupied by Susan Rice.

Now Rice is out at state. And Hagel may be in at defense. Which for John Kerry could mean victory.

Here’s the Bloomberg report:

Hagel, who served as an enlisted Army infantryman in Vietnam, has passed the vetting process at the White House Counsel’s office, said one of the people. The former Nebraska senator has told associates that he is awaiting final word from the president, said the other person. Both requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Other contenders are Michele Flournoy, former defense undersecretary for policy, and Ashton Carter, deputy defense secretary, administration officials have said. Obama invited Hagel to the White House on Dec. 4 to discuss the position with him, according to an administration official. The president hasn’t made a final decision, said another official. Both asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today declined to comment on whether Obama is considering Hagel, saying only that the two-term former lawmaker was widely respected. – 9.22pm GMT

Rice’s letter withdrawing her name

Here’s Rice’s letter to the president withdrawing from consideration as US secretary of state. “The position of secretary of state should never be politicized,” she says. Ambassador Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama (h/t: @thematthewkeys and @katierogers) 9.16pm GMT

The Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill sends President Obama’s full response on the Rice announcement. The president said he spoke with Rice today:

Today, I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State. For two decades, Susan has proven to be an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant. As my Ambassador to the United Nations, she plays an indispensable role in advancing America’s interests. Already, she has secured international support for sanctions against Iran and North Korea, worked to protect the people of Libya, helped achieve an independent South Sudan, stood up for Israel’s security and legitimacy, and served as an advocate for UN reform and the human rights of all people. I am grateful that Susan will continue to serve as our Ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my cabinet and national security team, carrying her work forward on all of these and other issues. I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend. While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first. The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country. 9.13pm GMT

Obama ‘deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack’ on Rice CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller gets the response from President Obama, who says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Rice, but her decision “demonstrates the strength of her character & an admirable commitment to rise above politics.” In written statement, Pres Obama says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Susan Rice, — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 13, 2012

In his first press conference after his reelection, the president struck a note of unusual perturbance in responding to Republican attacks on Rice.

“[Rice] has done exemplary work,” he said. “She has represented the United States… with skill and professionalism and toughness and grace. … and if Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.” 9.11pm GMT

Rice out of the running for secretary of state

UN ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for secretary of state, NBC News has reported. A potential nomination for Rice, who for months was perceived to be the president’s top pick, has been the object of fierce opposition from Republicans, who accuse her of misconduct following the September attack on Benghazi.

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama obtained by NBC. “That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country … Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time.”

We’ll be live-blogging developments. 9.04pm GMT

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Good honourable and ethical move by Rice. Rice has decided to ditch crony politics by sacrificing an opportunity that destroys democracy. Frankly ‘friends’ or seat holders in other places should not be ‘re-given’ posts. This should be something a panel should vote on and willing volunteers from a talent pool should sign on for for their 15 minutes of fame.

More than any other politician in America, her candidacy would change the contours of the next election.

Every Democrat with ambitions to succeed President Obama wants to know the answer to one question: Is Hillary Clinton going to run? If so, many will decide against doing so themselves. Who wants to square off against an opponent who’ll have a better fundraising operation, a better resume, and a spouse who happens to be America’s best surrogate? At the moment when the first black president is preparing to leave the White House, who will want to run against someone with a more than viable chance of becoming the first woman president?

“She seems like Democrats’ best bet, perhaps by some margin, to extend their winning streak to three or more terms in the White House,” Nate Silver notes. “If she ran even a point or two stronger than a ‘generic’ Democrat, the odds would shift meaningfully in her favor, holding other circumstances equal.”

But say Clinton doesn’t run. That changes everything, doesn’t it? Any Democratic primary without her would be dubbed “wide open.” Joe Biden may try to succeed his boss either way. But he is eminently beatable, as every aspiring alternative knows. He wouldn’t scare anyone away.

I won’t speculate about whether she’ll run. We’ll know in time. I’ll just say that it matters now that we don’t know, insofar as the uncertainty itself affects present behavior among certain Democrats.

I’d prefer it if Hillary Clinton stayed out of future races. My instinct is that she’d abuse executive power and civil liberties every bit as much as the man who appointed her to be secretary of state, especially now that he has acclimated the left to transgressing against transparency and the rule of law. What I can’t deny to Democrats is the likelihood that her foreign policy experience would permit her to retain her party’s edge on those issues, especially if she ran against someone as inexperienced as Marco Rubio, whose foreign-policy chops are hard to take seriously.

Grizzled feels more reassuring than boyish, does it not?

That isn’t to say she’d be a lock in the general election. About the only prediction I’m willing to make about Election 2016 is that Hillary Clinton would be a strong candidate barring a scandal.

But “likeable enough” to win?

What I’ll be most interested to see, if she does run, is how the conservative movement reacts to her candidacy. With relative sanity, insofar as they can’t very well accuse her of being a Kenyan anti-colonialist? With a return to the anti-Clintonian fervor of the 1990s? I suspect the latter reaction wouldn’t play well. Politicians who hang around long enough seem to become inured even to scandals in which they were actually caught red-handed. There isn’t anything so clear cut in Clinton’s past, and if many Americans are like me, the word “Whitewater” would send an involuntary shudder of dread coursing through the population, as if we were collectively told we’d have to re-watch the pre-trial motions from the O.J. Simpson trial while sequestered in a cheap hotel with nothing for diversion but Clinton-era back issues of The American Spectator.

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Can see the family blocs in 3rd world countries ready to jump on this opportunity to justify nepotism . . . do the right thing USA. Political culture is bad enough as is. Then the impossibly timely occurance below :

First stomach virus THEN concussion after ‘accepting’ the run for Presidency? (After Bill then Hillary, what next? Clinton’s children for President as well? Might as well run and declare USA a monarchy . . . no hate there but the 3rd world really cannot do with any justifications for nepotism arising from USA of all places! The Presidency of the United States and even so many high official posts should never be a hand down post, if a seat has been held by a family member, no way should the seat be allowed to another from the Clintons – the friends and cronies issue of seat/post hand downs are already bad enough, don’t start a trend . . . ) False flag or a warning by greater forces or even a warning by USA to 3rd world countries in the form of a false flag? Anything to put a stop to nepotism which destroys democracy and leads to dictatorship.

ARTICLE 10

Charlie Gonzalez’s Departure from Congress Marks End to Political Dynasty – Published December 17, 2012 – Fox News Latino

Charlie Gonzalez

San Antonio, Tex. – The retirement from Congress of Rep. Charlie Gonzalez is ending a half-century streak during which his father, then he, served in Congress, representing their San Antonio district.

The outgoing chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus served 14 years after replacing his famous father, Henry B. Gonzalez, who carved out a lasting legacy as a political reformer and civil rights leader.

Charlie Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, is returning to private life after deciding to not seek an eighth term. Taking his seat is Joaquin Castro, whose family packs its own celebrity pedigree: His twin brother is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a rising star on the national stage who was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year.

Charlie Gonzalez told the San Antonio Express-News that he’s leaving with a “sense of sadness.”

“It’s a job, but it’s an incredible job. The people, the surroundings, nothing compares to it,” Gonzalez said. “It is bittersweet. That is the best way to describe it.”

Charlie Gonzalez was first elected in 1988. His father served for 37 years and was chairman of the House Banking Committee, which wielded power over financial institutions and was instrumental in pushing reforms. The elder Gonzalez used that clout to push for public housing and programs for the homeless.

Larry Hufford, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said the elder Gonzalez pursued social justice in a time when it wasn’t fashionable. Charlie Gonzalez represented a 20th congressional district that, by the end of this last term, covered impoverished barrios on the city’s West side as well as middle-class and affluent neighborhoods to the north.

When it came to national issue, Charlie Gonzalez used his status Hispanic Caucus chairman to push for immigration reform.

“Charlie was able to carry on that legacy with a much different style; more low-keyed but very effective,” Hufford said.

Charlie Gonzalez dismissed suggestions that he could wind up being an appointee in President Barack Obama’s second term or be elected to a statewide office. A Democrat hasn’t been elected statewide in Texas since 1994.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Gonzalez’s decision to leave Congress marks the “end of an era.”

“To decide on my own when to leave Congress, that wasn’t a decision wasted on me,” Charlie Gonzalez said. “I’m a blessed individual. Rather than having circumstances imposed on my life, I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life. It is my encore career.”

This is based on a story by The Associated Press.

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Rare example of ethics. there is nothing beneficial personally for Gonzalez in quitting, but every such quit makes Democracy stronger and makes nepotism and oligarchy weaker. THIS should be the criteria for state awards or monuments than anything else. There is no end to wealth and power, and once enough politicians focus their value system on higher values away from the greed or power-madness fog, the super-pac, too big to fail, and plutocrat/corporate lobbyist and eventually the economy issues, will be easier to fathom and deal with. This is a form of ethics, as preventing nepotism is as dangerous as corruption in politics.

Tanis Baker, 21, dressed as a ninja to ‘strike fear in the hearts of criminals
He was arrested after officers who spotted him became concerned
He was soon surrounded by armed police, dogs and a helicopter
Two hidden rucksacks containing smokebombs and costumes found after arrest

Comic book fan: Tanis Baker told police he was a vigilante in a ninja costume after police arrested him while armed with a homemade wooden Samurai sword

A would-be vigilante was arrested by armed police after he dressed up as a ninja and armed himself with a wooden Samurai sword.

Mystery man-in-black Tanis Baker, 21, wanted to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in his neighbourhood just like his comic book idols.

But a court heard Baker ended up on the wrong side of the law after dressing up in ninja-style black body armour and a mask.

He armed himself with smoke bombs and a home-made wooden Samurai sword then crouched in the darkness in a park ready to pounce on any troublemakers.

But a police officer saw Baker in the shadows – and he called for back-up because of his concerns over the mystery figure.

Within minutes he was surrounded by armed officers, police dogs and a helicopter hovering overhead above Beechwood Park in Newport, South Wales.

He was arrested and officers found two hidden rucksacks containing seven smoke bombs and other vigilante costumes.

Magistrates at Cwmbran, South Wales, heard he told police he was a ‘vigilante in a costume’ and that he wanted to help people in trouble.

He claimed to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the police on the streets and wanted to strike fear into criminals.

The probation officer who assessed him said Baker was a fan of American comic book superheroes.

His probation report said: ‘He seems to get confused between fantasy and reality and sometimes had trouble distinguishing between what was in comic books and what was real life.’

The court heard that in real life Baker is no superhero but works as a barman in a snooker club in Newport, South Wales.

Hi-ya! Mr Tanis said he dressed up as a ninja to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in Newport (picture posed by model)

Louise Warren, defending, said: ‘Baker was bullied for many years and struggled growing up in his neighbourhood.

‘He was attacked by a gang of youths while out with his sister a year ago, but police were unable to find the offenders.

‘Since then Baker has wanted to help the police to protect society.’

The court heard Baker was asked what he would do if he encountered a real crime and said he had not thought that far ahead.

Superhero: How Baker might have looked when he was arrested while dressed as a vigilante ninja

He was given a 12-month supervision order and ordered to carry out 60 hours unpaid work.

Chairman of the magistrates Paul Lavin, said: ‘You may have thought you were helping but you caused a lot of trouble.

‘Do not do this in future or else you’ll be in big trouble.’

Baker, of Cwmbran, South Wales, admitted having an offensive weapon in a public place.

He declined to comment after the case.

Storm in a teacup as The Ninja of Newport has to meet the authorities somehow when he makes his introduction but now he could supply them with a trusty Ninjaphone to ring him in their hour of need to save the day and help restore law and order showing the baddies there’s a new guy in town and his name is THE NINJA OF NEWPORT!!! *plays national anthem*

– Stuart , Edinburgh Scotland, United Kingdom, 13/12/2012 18:34

We need more vigilantes on the street, but we criminalise them instead. Take Phoenix jones of Seattle, he and his friends do a great job, lawfully and prevent crimes, as well as assisting law officers.

– Illuminati cards , Bunker, 13/12/2012 18:49

What part was illegal ? Smoke bombs aren’t illegal, they are let off at paintballing sites, and wooden sticks aren’t illegal unless something new has happened, that makes drumming against the law.

– mileage , Barry, 13/12/2012 18:49

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Look here anyone is allowed to cosplay a ninja or favourite super hero (or Otaku genre!) character. Orwell has taken over Newport. More ‘ninjas’ or cosplayers should lurk ‘ in the shadows ‘, SPECIFICALLY to see what the local enforcement does. Good work Tanis! Now we all know that Newport is not a free sort of place. A really free minded place would give a verbal warning or even co-opt the ‘ninja’ as an eccentric member of the neighbourhood watch who refused to work with the formal watch. More cosplayers! And know that permission for carrying actual weapons can be obtained and if registered should not be an offence.

But a wooden sword? Thats not even a weapon. A really long carving knife is more dangerous than a wooden sword and is legal to carry around. A handgun is more dangerous than the above and still is legal. Lurking might be addressed with a simple request. And the reasons given are only to protect society! What gives Newport? More cosplayers and lurkers EVERYWHERE! How about openly walking around with masks, costumes and ‘lurking’ in corners for the rest of the week Newporters! I’m surprised Tanis did not challenge the judgment. Where’s that US culture of freedom and vigilante-ism? For the conservative types, try Cowboys and Indians with camping knives, whips and 6 shooters for a start . . . set up camp in a ‘lurky’ area EVERYDAY in shifts. See what the local enforcement does . . . we’ll know where Orwell LURKS instead – then set up a map of ‘people friendly’ and ‘people unfriendly’ places, the 99% will know how to vote or which laws to amend . . .

House Speaker John Boehner has made a decision that will make some wealthy Americans squeal, while making most Americans smile.

Boehner, after weeks of rhetoric that Republicans and Democrats were miles apart on fiscal cliff talks, relented on a stance that high earners shouldn’t see higher taxes. Now, Boehner has agreed to raise taxes on Americans making more than $1 million, reversing an earlier position that all Bush Era tax cuts should stand.

The move by Boehner is particularly significant for several reasons. First, it’s a gesture toward compromise— Democrats wanted taxes raised on Americans making more than $250,000, while Republicans, at first, would have none of it—and suggests the two sides may finally become serious about averting the fiscal cliff. Next, the tax hikes would increase federal coffers by some $1 trillion over 10 years; President Obama has demanded $1.4 trillion in new revenue, but at least the pols’ figures are growing closer. And Boehener’s decision is a refreshing signal that, when confronted with dire forecasts—like the one that predicts a recession to start 2013 if the fiscal cliff happens—Washington, D.C can put aside partisinism and past promises. Though, I imagine that Grover Norsquist takes little glee from Boehner’s shift.

Republicans are the first to sacrifice a sacred cow. Now, Democrats must too. What mostly impedes progress? Some $200 billion. That’s the difference between the spending cuts in federal health care programs that Republicans want ($600 billion) and Democrats want ($400 billion).

Investors will probably take this move by the pols as evidence that a deal will eventually come. We haven’t piled out of stocks quite like you might think. Indeed, the major benchmarks this month have gained about 4%. There hasn’t been that complete flight to safety—into the cash-generative arms of Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney—and away from risk—fleeing the speculation around a Research In Motion comeback or better times for Alpha Natural.

Still, the cliff today looks less like a chasm than it did just a few days earlier.

Reach Abram Brown at abrown@forbes.com.

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Squeal? What they earn in a year is an entire lifetimes 401K or many times more than 401K which the 99% takes decades to earn, these wealthy Americans are just SPOILT. Boehner did good, and if the wealthy Americans are too squealy, they are welcome to move to a favourite country of their choice – as mentioned before all assets a country has are land and resource divided by number of citizens not useless fiat. the US A will be happy to have 1 citizen less and more to share among those who stay.

ARTICLE 12.5

French wealthy ‘feel victimised by tax’ – by Hugh Schofield – 10 December 2012 Last updated at 15:02 GMT Help

Actor Gerard Depardieu has become the latest wealthy person to flee France’s 75% tax on those earning over 1m euros a year.

The star has bought a house over the border in the Belgian village of Nechin.

France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault has already applied for Belgian citizenship and thousands of other wealthy French people are making the move.

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The ‘wealthiest’ will NEVER pay enough because in 1 year they earn 10 lifetimes what most ‘wealthiest’ Frenchmen earn in decades EVEN AFTER TAX. No place for Marie Antoinettes here . . . and 75% tax is not enough because they can hold assets up to 75,000% of what the ordinary french person has with the very wealthiest earning 7500% of what the 99% does EVEN AFTER TAX. 75% of 100 million of the less ecxeptional wealthiest is still 25 million in earnings, 75% of 10 million is 2.5 million in earnings which is easily 10 times what the 99% earn in a lifetime . . . Victimised?

Some Frenchmen can’t even buy French bread or have a French roof! That money goes to social services not banquets for the French officials I hope, otherwise time to storm the Bastille again . . . 75% tax is farcical considering the above facts.

The issue of child prostitution and its supposed alter-ego, adult prostitution, are personal to me because I’ve experienced both, having been prostituted between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two.

I sometimes think of what those who knew nothing of me would have thought of me, as they caught glimpses of me, on the different stages of those seven years. Who doubts that the majority would have looked at my young teenaged self and wondered what sort of world we lived in? And who doubts, if they’re honest, that many would have looked at my young adult self and wondered what sort of women populated it?

This is the dichotomy of adult and child and they are viewed as very separate, very distinct, so that there is a clearly perceived line between these stages, these ages, but in fact it is not a line. It is a bridge. It is a bridge that spans the in-between; that gap that connects the points in the lives of so many women who were prostituted first as children then as adults. I lived that bridge in my own prostitution life, when I was turning from a child into a woman, and I was used sexually for money on most of the days that made up my adolescence, as I was before in childhood and afterwards in early adulthood. And here is the crux of the matter: it was all the same nightmare to me.

People chose though, before and after those in-between years, whether I was blameless or blameworthy. In the interim, while I existed in the in-between, each individual who looked at me or fucked me had the privilege of making up their own mind. Many did, and most chose the latter.

After that, when I was identifiably a woman, it was not a case of ‘most’ anymore, but ‘almost all’ – because almost all those who looked at me in my young adulthood decided that I’d chosen what was happening, and saw it as what I was doing rather than what was being done to me.

The ‘done to me’ aspect died, you see, along with my adolescence in the perspectives of other people. The problem was it didn’t die, and I was still alive, living the ‘done to me’ reality every day.

As a fourteen-year-old girl, a full year before I ever started prostituting, I first realised that some men felt an actual entitlement to my body. This was perfectly expressed by the extreme belligerence they’d display when I rejected their advances. They would be so angry. ‘How dare you?’ said their actions. I couldn’t make any sense of that attitude. It was literally like someone was speaking in a foreign language to me, and it was a foreign language in a sense; it was the language of sexual entitlement. I became fluent in the language eventually, but fluent in the sense of someone speaking a language not of their origin; someone who can understand it audibly, but will never be able to write it.

At that time though, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could think it was okay to walk up to someone on the street and wrap your arms around them, or grope somebody, or growl what you’d like to do to them into their ear. But I had all these experiences as a fourteen-year-old girl and I’d had three approaches by paedophiles as a pre-pubescent child, and still I could not fathom why and how this was supposed to be acceptable in the view of these men, why this was supposed to be okay. I remember one man’s surprise and affront as he told me “You’re very standoffish!” after I pulled away from a physical embrace I didn’t initiate, ask for, permit or fucking want.

These experiences came thick and fast from the age of fourteen, when I began to be more noticeably developing breasts. It is little wonder I became fluent in the language of male sexual entitlement. Facial expressions, aggressive stances, weary sighs, protracted silences – all these too make up part of that language, all these are used to communicate the idea that you’re expected to consent when a man decides he will have rights to your body.

So I’d had some schooling, in that sense, as to what prostitution expected of me. What I didn’t know was how bad it was going to get. I couldn’t have known that before I experienced it. It was unknowable. Well, I soon found out, and what I found out didn’t get any better on the day I turned eighteen and it didn’t get any better on the day I turned twenty-one either.

They bother me, these stupid irrelevant lines that are drawn that attempt to divide the lived reality of the prostitution experience based on whether a female is fifteen or seventeen, seventeen or nineteen, eighteen or twenty. They are diversions to the central matter at hand; they divert from the core issue. They disappear the fact that this is wrong, not only by degrees that deepen with the youthfulness of its target, but by its nature, so that all those who’ve been paid for sex they do not want have suffered sexual abuse. There is a shelf-life for women in prostitution, but there is no shelf-life for the nature of prostitution. Its abusive core does not morph into something else on a person’s eighteenth birthday. Not that many men wait that long in the first place.

And on that note, people need to start querying what is the criterion for fuckability according to sex-buying men? What is their divining rod for ‘of age’? Is it a pair of breasts? My experience of prostitution is that it is any pair of breasts, regardless that they’re still developing; and this we’ve got to see as a form of sexual selfishness that has decayed to the point where it’s putrid. It is also a nonsense of a position, because if a pair of breasts at any stage of development signify completed womanhood then every females adulthood actually began at the onset of puberty; not began to form, but began in full. Every woman was a woman before she was a woman, by that ludicrous standard.

I am sure we will have a lot of indignation from sex buyers on this point, but as a fifteen-year-old child with developing breasts I was abused by a multitude of these men every day; men, some of whom would never have considered themselves paedophiles or predators or abusers – and I saw the same men pay to use the bodies of other adolescents with breasts, one of them just thirteen years old, so I can assure the reader that these men assured themselves wherever there was the presence of breasts there was the absence of childhood.

Added to this, men who buy sex are obsessed with the act of despoilment; they are, as a group, blatantly obsessed with the desire to fuck the youngest girl they can find. The upshot of this of course is that there is great commercial value placed on youth in prostitution. I have thought at length and written a little about Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth, and I know both that this exists as a reality in prostitution and that is speaks with great clarity to the putrid sexual selfishness I’ve just mentioned.

So adolescents are fair game in prostitution; I’ve made my point, but it’s important also to look at an uncanny resemblance here: adolescence is the physical reality, the mirror image made flesh and form, of that place where a woman is halfway between being prostituted and being trafficked. That point where women go to other countries knowing they’ll be working in the sex trade, but not knowing what that reality really means, or not knowing that they’ll be charged four and five figure sums for the privilege of their prostitutions organisation. This is another of prostitutions in-betweens. They exist in various forms, and very often these mid-spectrum situations are misrepresented and then misappropriated so that they can be used to gloss over the reality of the sex trade. For example those women who are working back thousands of euros/dollars/pounds of money they supposedly ‘owe’ are not classified as trafficking victims, although that is what they are. The sex industry calls them ‘independent escorts’ and ignores and erases the misery of their lives.

In the same way, people who live prostitution during the transition between childhood and adulthood must be mislabelled and filed away, inconvenient as they are. They must be either a child or an adult according to the sex industry, and also, disturbingly, to some anti-trafficking groups. Some groups decide to find a way around this by subdividing adolescence into stages where those from twelve to fourteen are deemed worthy of sympathy and attention, while fifteen to seventeen-year-olds are brushed to one side with the gut-churning excuse that they have so much more ‘personal agency’.

When, I would like to ask the senior members of these groups, did my personal agency begin? Because by their criterion it seems to me it began at the stroke of midnight as I entered my fifteenth year, which makes me feel like a very sorry version of Cinderella; except the slipper in this fairytale was never going to fit because it had been shattered, and believe me, Prince Charming was nowhere to be seen. I had no more personal agency at fifteen than I had the year before, in fact I had significantly less, because at fourteen I had only six months of homelessness behind me; at fifteen I had a year and a half. In homelessness your desperation increases with time, not decreases. If people think ‘personal agency’ always increases with the forward march of time they are lucky people who’ve never had to deal with the miserable conditions of their own lives intensifying with time, and they’re obviously so detached from that life experience they’ve never even considered it.

By drawing distinctions between trafficking and prostitution, between under and over eighteen, some well-intentioned anti-trafficking organisations acquiesce to the perpetuation of a system known to be extremely violent and damaging while continuing to stigmatise and blame most of its victims. This stigmatisation maintains the disempowerment and marginalisation of the same population these groups want to help. It also empowers the predators who prey on our most vulnerable, whether under or over eighteen.

FreeIrishWoman

ARTICLE 14

Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth – Posted on June 3, 2012

People who argue that prostitution would be free of coercion, trafficking, the exploitation of minors – and everything else that prevents it from being some kind of all-above-board consenting-adults-only autonomy party – are people who ignore one vital aspect of prostitutions reality. It is the commercial value of youth.

Just as in some actual industries, like modelling or professional dance, youth is highly prized among attributes. Unlike modelling or dance though, youth in prostitution is prized far above beauty and the fluidity of movement. In order to be most highly in demand in prostitution, you don’t need to be the prettiest flower in the field; you just need to be among the youngest. And what you can or cannot do with your body is irrelevant; it just matters that it hasn’t been on the planet for very long.

One of the commonest questions that comes through on any brothels phone line is ‘What age is the youngest girl you have?’ I could not count the times I have been asked that question, and I defy anybody who has answered a brothels phone to tell the blatant lie that it is not the commonest question they’ve been asked too.

The commercial value of youth is so profoundly built-in to prostitution that women routinely lie about their age in order to generate more business. The clients know this, of course, and even as women are shaving a few years off clients are adding a few on. ‘I’m twenty-six – I’ll tell him I’m twenty-three’ / ‘She’s twenty-three? – that means she’s twenty-six’.

Nobody’s fooling anybody here, and the only thing the whole pathetic charade is any good for is the revealing nature of what’s going on behind the pretence. What it reveals, of course, is that men who buy bodies for sex usually want to buy the youngest body they can find.

Last year it was reported to the BBC that prostitutes as young as thirteen were working the streets in Swindon, in the English county of Wiltshire. “Come here at the weekend and you’ll get 13-year-old girls to 19-year-old girls out here”, one prostitute told reporters.

When I read reports like these I just sigh. It tires me to pre-empt the shock people will express. It tires me to imagine that shock, whether it is genuine or not, because if it is genuine then that proves we have a long way to go in educating people about the reality of prostitution, and if it is not, well then, here is yet more in a tsunami of evidence that there are those who do not want the reality of prostitution understood.

Whenever any evidence of teenaged prostitution is revealed the pro-prostitution lobby move immediately to put forth the preposterous assertion that this town is somehow different or unique. The attitude is always either ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, who ever heard of such a thing?’ – or ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, we could clear up this situation if we legalised prostitution!’ – as if somehow the demand for adolescent bodies would vanish if only we’d make the sale of adult bodies okay!

Usually, however, they will simply deny that adolescent prostitution is widespread, or that adolescents are much in demand in the first place.

‘How do we know this is true?’ will come the query from the pro-prostitution lobby. It is not a query in the genuine sense of the word. A real query seeks an answer. This query seeks to obscure the same answer it purports to be seeking.

This will seem strange and confusing to some people. It is neither strange nor confusing to me; I’ve been exposed to the tactics of the pro-prostitution lobby for too long to be surprised or confused by these sorts of seemingly tangled and nonsensical tactics. What people need to understand is that they are not nonsensical. These are obscurest policies and they are purposeful and predictable, and when you understand their purpose you will have no problem predicting them too.

Their purpose is consistently the same; it is to deny and refute the sick and twisted nature of what actually goes on in prostitution. The truth they don’t want to you know is that men who pay for sex will most often opt to pay for a fifteen-year-old over a seventeen-year-old, a seventeen-year-old over a nineteen-year-old, a nineteen-year-old over a twenty-one-year-old, and so on and so forth.

Now, let me be very clear about this – I will be called a liar for having asserted the above. It will be said that I am trying to demonise punters, that I am telling lies about their preferences and proclivities. I wish I was. In my first year in prostitution, when I was fifteen-years-old, I was used by countless hundreds of men; I truly couldn’t say how many. I saw up to ten men a day so you may do the maths for yourself (the thoughts of doing that calculation disturbs me). As I stated in my Examiner article back in February, men were so obviously aroused by my youth it made them climax very quickly, so I soon learned to tell them how old I was in order to shorten the whole ordeal. I made it a policy; it was one of the first things I said when I got into the car – not that I needed to bring up the subject because it was usually one of the first questions asked of me.

In all those hundreds of men, one man, just ONE, turned his van around and brought me back to where he’d found me.

So yes, those who advocate for legalised or decriminalised prostitution will do their damnedest to obscure the truth about the high commercial value placed on young bodies in prostitution, all the while squawking ‘Where’s the evidence? Where’s the evidence?’ – like some kind of belligerent and demented parrot, with all the repetitiveness and severe comprehension issues you’d expect. All beak and no brains, in other words.

This is to be expected; of course the pro-prostitution lobby don’t want you to know that girls who are post-puberty by only a year or two are routinely lusted after, sought out, highly prized and then abused for enough years ‘till they’ve lost much of their commercial value. If that was widely known, it would do a great deal of damage to the autonomous, sexually-liberated, empowerment fantasy depiction they are consistently trying to peddle.

As for ‘Where’s the evidence?’ – I don’t need to ask that question. When I was a fifteen-year-old prostitute I was FAR more in-demand than I ever was as a twenty-two-year-old, even though at twenty-two I was slim, pretty, and an extremely youthful woman; but therein lay the problem. I was a woman.

There is huge emphasis placed on the commercial value of youth in prostitution. ‘The evidence’ is in every brothel and red-light zone in the land, and I know that because I lived the evidence.

A good blog post typifying a particular ‘staid’ type of sex worker who happened to start working out of necessity early from environmental issues, but has somehow remained in the field by choice while not liking the field too much. Perhaps some personal issues about being denied other opportuunities when younger. @FreeIrishWoman seems to enjoy the sense of indignation working as a sex worker and who knows in some twisted manner, gains strength at the cutting at the conscience of her clients one can read from the writing. The ethical hirers who do want 100% consensual and a clear conscience should give this particular worker a skip. The ‘mean’ lot who gravitate from morality to desire from religious probably, would doubtless be twice attracted. While sex would be available, sex positivism is not to be found here!

Decriminalising prostitution could mean better safety and improved relations with police for sex workers. A series of gang attacks on brothels in east London has triggered calls for changes to the prostitution laws after victims who reported knifepoint robberies said they ended up being threatened with prosecution. A police investigation has been launched as senior Labour and Conservative members of the London assembly and the English Collective of Prostitutes allege that violent crime is being given a lower priority than less serious sex offences.

The attacks highlight the growing debate over calls for New Zealand’s pioneering decriminalisation of sex work to be considered – an approach recently supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers. What is said by sex workers to be a spate of robberies – involving cash and jewellery – coincides with an increase in police raids on east London addresses being used as brothels before the 2012 London Olympics.

The first address targeted was in Barking, east London, on 6 December. A video showing five men apparently breaking into another house in the area being used by sex workers is also being studied by officers. The women who made the first complaint allege they recognise some of the gang members from the YouTube clip. In a third attack, at a different address, a woman who worked as a maid at a brothel is alleged to have been raped by the gang. None of the victims there reported the offence for fear of being charged by officers with living off the proceeds of prostitution; the police say they are so far unaware of this incident.

The ECP said changes to the law, in response to fears over the forcible trafficking of foreign sex workers into Britain, have made it more difficult for women to work together in houses for safety. A letter of complaint sent by Niki Adams, a leading ECP activist who works with Legal Action for Women, to the borough police commander in Barking last month, said the way the investigation into the first incident had been pursued had discouraged “sex workers from reporting attacks”. The letter continued: “The 6 December attack was at knifepoint and the women felt they had to try and protect themselves. They think the assailants may well be the same people who have robbed them before, who have got away with it, and so have returned and become more violent as they have got bolder.

“Targeting women for prosecution in this way undermines any attempts to catch those who attack and exploit sex workers … We are receiving reports of incidents where women have been attacked and their attackers have told them brazenly that they know women won’t dare go to the police.” Adams believes there may have been as many as 20 attacks in the area over the past two years. The Metropolitan police confirmed it was aware of the 6 December attack and the YouTube video and is investigating whether the attacks are linked. “We can confirm that we were called to an alleged incident of aggravated burglary at an address in Victoria Road, Barking,” a statement said.

“Patrolling officers arrived at the scene and were quickly accompanied by scene of crime officers and detectives from Barking and Dagenham CID. Detectives also visited the venue on a further occasion to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. “Unfortunately, those at the address were unwilling to substantiate the allegation or further assist with the investigation despite a number of attempts for them to do so. The case remains under investigation and should any further information come to light it will of course be vigorously pursued.” The force said “a notice has been served to the registered owner of the venue in Victoria Road under the auspices of section 33a of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. The notice formally notified the recipient that they were liable to prosecution should the premises in Victoria Road remain in use as a brothel”. Referring to the YouTube video, the police said: “We are looking to see if the attacks are linked. Officers take any such reports extremely seriously and actively encourage all members of the community, particularly those who may be vulnerable to such incidents, to come forward and contact police. “Officers at Barking and Dagenham work hard to ensure that the borough remains a safe place for all residents. The welfare of victims remains our primary concern and we acknowledge that some members of the community are more vulnerable and susceptible to crime. “We strive to encourage and support female victims and to assist us further we are in the process of launching a bespoke multi-agency victim care service. This will see female victims receiving the best possible support and will include fast-track referrals to housing and health professionals as well as Safer Neighbourhood reassurance intervention.”

Prostitution itself is not illegal but associated activities – such as kerb crawling, placing advertising cards in phoneboxes and working in premises with more than one person available for paid sex – are outlawed.

Last November Simon Byrne, Acpo’s lead officer on prostitution and sexual exploitation, suggested there was a need for a fresh look at the legal balance. Then deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester, Byrne is in the process of moving to the Met as assistant commissioner. “There is a great amount of academic research available, much of which supports the view that an alternative approach is needed,” he wrote on his official Acpo blog. “An example would be the decriminalisation and regulation of brothels in Australia and New Zealand, not an answer to all of the related issues but certainly a solution to some.

“More of those involved in sex work in Australia and New Zealand can now access health services with ease, whilst maintaining more personal security in an emotive area for policing.”

Another proponent of reform is Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London assembly. “The law is framed so as to put women [sex workers] into the most vulnerable position,” he said. “The changes brought in by the last government seemed to [be derived from] the view that every single worker in the sex trade was trafficked. “People are not willing to come forward over these attacks. When they report them, the women themselves have had action taken against them. I’m compiling a report on the problem for Boris Johnson.”

Len Duvall, the leader of the Labour group at the London assembly, said: “We need to examine in greater detail information and case studies from those countries that have sought to legalise prostitution, including the model put forward by New Zealand, especially if it provides a degree of protection for sex workers and reduces crimes associated with prostitution.

“Where brothels have not posed a problem to the wider community and there has been no evidence of sex trafficking, I have heard evidence that the police have taken an inconsistent and heavy-handed approach in dealing with sex workers. There is also evidence that crimes against sex workers are being ignored.”

Earlier this month, Sheila Farmer, a sex worker who operated with other women out of shared premises, had charges of brothel-keeping against her dismissed at Croydon crown court. The Crown Prosecution Service said there had been no change in enforcement policy; the unexpected failure of a witness to appear led to the charge being withdrawn. Farmer said she had chosen to work with other women for safety because she had been attacked previously when working alone.

Nigel Richardson, the solicitor who represented her, said he was aware of another case in Surrey where women had reported an attack on their flat from a rival operation. “They were visited by two men who threatened the women and were pouring petrol around the place,” he said.

“My client called the police. Officers intially took the attack very seriously but eventually arrested my client. The men were never brought to book for an assault but my client was prosecuted for running a brothel.”

Tim Barnett, the British-born former New Zealand MP who pushed through his adopted country’s decriminalisation legislation in 2003, was in London before Christmas where he briefed Boff and Duvall. “We said let’s make the law the best to minimise harm,” he said at the time. “We set up a review of the legislation. A number of people said the number of sex workers would rise.

“So we reviewed it after five years in 2008. The review didn’t find any increase and there was an improvement in the relationship with the police. Sex workers were using their rights under the legislation to deal with poor-quality brothel owners or clients who had been behaving abusively.”

Think deeper and not be influenced by the agenda laden NPPs . . . this is NOT to be used as ‘proof’ of support of rape. This is the offense that might cause rape . . .

ARTICLE 16

NHS doctors to be forced to work weekends for the first time in push for improved seven-day a week care – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 15:45 GMT, 16 December 2012 | UPDATED: 23:19 GMT, 16 December 2012

Oupatients appointments and surgical procedures could be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays for the first time
The shake up is part of plans by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the new NHS Commissioning Board

Seven days: Sir Bruce Keogh plans to introduce seven day working to the NHS

Doctors could be forced to work at weekends under plans to create a health service with supermarket-style opening hours.

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS’s medical director, said that patients, like shoppers, should be entitled to the same quality of service on Saturday and Sunday as during the week.

He said it was no longer acceptable for hospitals and GPs’ surgeries to operate for the convenience of their staff at the expense of patients and that clinics and day case operations should be available seven days a week.

It should also be possible to get weekend hospital appointments for scans and GPs should provide slots to treat patients at weekends, he said.

The proposal is to be considered by the NHS Commissioning Board in an effort to improve access to healthcare.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘Our system has been based around providing as good a working environment as you can for the people who work in the health service, which isn’t necessarily matched with what the people who want services have.

‘If you wanted a day case operation, and you didn’t want to take a day off work, why can’t you have it on a Saturday or Sunday?’

‘Tesco have had to go through this – it was a complex issue for them – we will need to look at the terms and conditions or service of people.’

He added that having empty clinics and operating theatres on a Saturday and Sunday is a waste of NHS resources.

Research by the board found that a patient admitted to hospital on a Sunday was 16 per cent more likely to die than if they were admitted on a Wednesday.

Keogh can introduce the changes and implement financial rewards and penalties to ensure that hospitals follow the guidelines.

Contract changes: Many medical professionals will have to work Saturdays and Sundays for the first time

The plans will no doubt anger doctors who will be keen to protect their current working hours.

Medical professionals will not receive any extra money for working weekends but will be given days off in the week instead.

The proposals will be fully outlined in the NHS Commissioning Board’s first planning guidance which will detail how health funds will be spent ahead and which will be released on Tuesday.

The British Medical Association (BMA) last night rejected the idea that that the medical profession could learn from private firms such as Tesco but it was ‘open’ to discussing seven day working.

How to charge for medical treatment.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Try this. Instead of all doctors having Saturdays and Sundays off, some doctors could have Mondays and Tuesdays off, then the overlap from different shift doctors should cover everything.

Day shift should focus on geriatrics and paediatrics (adult people working will put off visits to nighttime and will not visit during the day) while evening shift will be more popular for the adults. Midnight shift should have the least staff (most people sleeping), though everyone not of the above groups might visit, emergency services from racers gettti8ng into accidents and drunks getting into fights will make up the most of this shift. The fact that the one can get medical aid 24/7 makes for a safer feeling in any district overall.

ARTICLE 17

Is this the end of paper banknotes? Plastic version could be in your pocket in just three years – by Rebecca Evans – PUBLISHED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012 | UPDATED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012

Overhaul could see environmentally-friendly notes introduced from 2015
Have proved a success since being introduced in Australia in 1988
Plastic lasts much longer and are more hygienic but more expensive to make

Plastic banknotes are set to be introduced in Britain, replacing the paper money used for more than 300 years.

The radical overhaul could see the more durable, waterproof and harder-to-counterfeit polymer sterling notes in circulation within three years.

The Bank of England has put out a £1billion tender from 2015 for the printing of notes at its press in Debden, Essex.

Paper money could be replaced within three years after being used for more than three centuries

Part of this process demands that bidders are able to cope with the change from paper to plastic from the start of the contract.

Since 2003, the contract has been held by De La Rue – one of only two makers of polymer notes.

The company, which prints more than 150 currencies, has just produced new plastic banknotes for the Pacific island of Fiji.

Plastic notes were first introduced in Australia in 1988 as a measure against counterfeiting.

They have proved a success, and are apparently particularly popular with surfers who are able to keep money in their pockets without it disintegrating.

Other countries to issue polymer notes include New Zealand, Romania, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Vietnam. In Northern Ireland, a plastic fiver was introduced in 1999 to mark the Millennium.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon has already said plastic notes were being looked at as a possibility to replace paper money

Plastic notes last much longer than cotton fibre-based paper ones. For instance, an Australian $5 bill lasts about 40 months, against six months for a £5 note.

Polymer notes are more hygienic as they absorb fewer bacteria, harder to tear or crease – making them easier for vending machines – and waterproof, even able to survive being put in the washing machine.

A key feature is a clear window, which normally contains an ‘optical variable device’ that splits light into its component colours and is extremely hard to counterfeit. Plastic notes can also contain holograms.

They are also more environmentally friendly as fewer need to be produced and they can be recycled.

However, they are considerably more expensive to produce and would create an initial cost as ATMs and vending machines would have to be adapted to accept them.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon had already revealed it was investigating the possibility of polymer or plastic-coated banknotes.
‘Today I’m going to make some £20 notes out of this old plastic washing-up bottle’

It is understood that the Bank will initially introduce lower denominations, such as the fiver, which are in wider use so become dog-eared more rapidly.

De La Rue’s chief executive Tim Cobbold said: ‘If you think about the life of a banknote, it takes quite a hammering.

‘It’s being folded, it’s being crunched, it’s in and out of wallets and it could be in the wet or dry.’

But financial expert David Buik, of the retail and trading services firm Cantor Index, believes the conversion to plastic notes should not be rushed.

‘I think it’s something that needs to be more carefully thought out,’ he said.

‘Money laundering is a huge problem and if the security measures introduced could be used to make notes more traceable, then that would be very good.

‘But it needs to be applied internationally, the major countries all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.’

A spokesman for the Bank of England said: ‘No definite decisions have been taken yet but the Bank is considering all options.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Paper 300 years? Try precious metals 3000 or more years. Barter possible more than 30,000 . . . Parallel currencies in PM used in the manner of barter should put an end to the plastic note b.s.. Make your own localised currency citizens! Stop ceding economic control to central national banks.

As the 13th General Elections draws near, UMNO has been showing signs of being increasingly insecure and uncertain about its future hold on power.

Being unable to counter our ideas and policies in a constructive way, it has instead launched a relentless campaign of hate and fear mongering. With the mainstream media at its complete disposal, UMNO is using every trick in the book to sow racial discord and instil fear among the people of the consequences that will befall them when Pakatan Rakyat comes to power.

Lies and May 13 scare-mongering

The just-concluded UMNO General Assembly provided yet another pretext to go on overdrive in this offensive of lies and intimidation led by Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato’ Seri Najib Razak. We condemn his reckless statement that Malaysia will lose its sovereignty in three years after Pakatan Rakyat takes over. The idea is sow the seeds of distrust among the people that Pakatan Rakyat leaders are traitors who will pawn the nation’s sovereignty for political power. Citing no facts nor providing any evidence, Najib’s scurrilous suggestion is therefore totally unfounded and can only be made by someone who has neither respect for the truth nor any sense of moral rectitude.

As a prelude to this loss of power scenario, delegates were also falling over each other in raising the spectre of a repeat of May 13th riots if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. We understand that Wanita chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Jalil is trying to revive her political career having been forced to resign as minister by the multimillion ringgit NFC scandal. But to resort to such low hand tactics is inexcusable. To bring back the ghost of May 13th is to attempt to sow animosity among the races particularly between the Malays and the non-Malays and to spread fear among the people of violence and bloodshed if UMNO loses power. This is not only reckless but highly seditious and therefore criminal.

REAL THREAT

It is clear that Pakatan Rakyat has emerged as a real threat to the UMNO-Barisan Nasional hegemony and this has caused guns for hire to make blatant allegations about our leaders acting as proxies for foreign powers with me being singled out as proxy apparently for both the United States and China at the same time! While we may laugh away this non-sensical allegation, the fact is that with the nation-wide print and electronic media completely under its control, UMNO is spreading this lie with the intensity and ferocity that would make Goebbels proud. Employing the method of spreading ‘the big lie’ by constant repetition, the media attempts to paint a scenario of the country facing financial doom and under the control of foreign powers if Pakatan Rakyat takes over.

The UMNO media is also stoking the fire of communal and religious discord publishing the inflammatory racist statements of delegates. The fear mongering in this regard centres on making Muslims feel that Islam will be undermined if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. According to UMNO, only they are the champions of Islam, not KEADILAN or even PAS. Thus, they spread the lie that apostasy cases will increase and that Malaysia may be turned into a Christian state if UMNO loses power.

Low caliber personal attacks

Najib’s keynote address in the UMNO General Assembly was full of vitriolic against Pakatan Rakyat and personal attacks against its leaders, me in particular in language totally un-befitting a statesman. Should the rakyat continue to bear with leadership of such caliber? What is the policy of the Umno president going forward for the nation? Where are the blue prints for the economy and social justice, for health care, housing and education? Najib must stop this campaign of lies and intimidation.

If he has valid issues with Pakatan Rakyat, then he should accept my invitation for a debate so that all Malaysians will be given the opportunity to see for themselves who is lying and who is telling the truth. Stop hiding behind the protective wall of your propaganda machinery and taking potshots at Pakatan Rakyat and me.

Man up to your position as Prime Minister and face me in the ring!

Anwar Ibrahim is the Leader of the Malaysian Opposition & PKR MP for Permatang Pauh

;to make the opposition disappear. If the opposition makes clear on the above as well though, Najib indeed will have a tough time and who knows be on that slippery Scorpene and Altantuya slope to political and social oblivion . . . as for Anwar, the Rakyat should know that ccording to some sources, only 8% of PKR members vioted for the current PKR Committee. This means that 92% of the PKR members which might not even want some people in the committee (the whole of Anwar’s family is in the committee btw – NEPOTISM) either were not given time to select the committee or were intentionally left out or worse still, did not care at all. On PKR’s part, no attempt was made to ensure that the members voted, possibly because if 92% of those left out voted, Anwar, family blocs and Anwar cliques in PKR might not even make it to the PKR committee which uses the undemocratic practice of CHOOSING who gets to run in what constituency. If no honest attempt is made to revote at at least 66.6% quorum, PKR might as well be deregistered as a political party or the ROS could penalise PKR for having a committee which was not voted at a 66.6% quorum as per democratic principles recognized worldwide. PKR is a very slipshod run political party. Man up and face in the ring? Tak a look at that 8% quorum backyard first . . . what are the 92% saying?

ARTICLE 2

Child marriages: Rethinking the issue — Art Harun – December 04, 2012

DEC 4 — Child marriage has somewhat become something of a phenomenon in Malaysia.

In a New Straits Times report dated June 13, 2010 (republished by asiaonenews), the following was published:

“….according to the 2000 Census, there were 11,400 children below 15 years of age who were married — 6,800 girls and 4,600 boys. Of the 6,800 girls, only 2,450 were Malay. This means that the syariah court gave its consent to each of these 2,450 underage girls to get married.

“The remainder of 4,350 girls were non-Malays comprising 1,550 other Bumiputeras, 1,600 Chinese, 600 Indians, and 600 others. It is not known whether they had got their licence from the relevant minister, but even if they did, it would have been illegal, since there are no legal provisions for a non-Muslim under 16 years to get married.”

The report added:

“Last year,(2009) 479 children under 15 years, two of them boys, were getting ready to tie the knot. And 32 of them were below 10 years. None of them were found to be HIV-positive.

“This is based on Health Ministry statistics of premarital HIV screening for Muslims, a compulsory requirement for those wanting to get married.

“However, it is not certain if any of these applications for marriage were approved by the state religious department.”

The legal age for marriage for non-Muslims in Malaysia is 18 years old. For Muslims, however, the legal age is 16 years old. However, in the case of Muslims in Malaysia, the syariah courts are empowered to allow marriages of children who are under 16 years of age.

There are alarming and disconcerting reports about child marriages in Malaysia. In early 2010, there were reports of two marriages involving 10- and 11-year-old girls married off to men in their 40s in Kelantan. The 11-year-old was later found in a state of shock. The syariah courts later ruled the marriages illegal. The ground for illegality however was not based on whether there was adequate consent from the children or on their respective age but was rather based on procedural non-compliance.

Child marriages, particularly among Muslims in Malaysia, although not a societal norm, are however a socially acceptable practice among a section of the society. Mass weddings involving children are, for instance, carried out. The state lends its approval and sanction either by publicising such weddings on the front page of its mainstream newspapers or by its leaders attending such weddings. In December 2010, for instance, a 14-year-old girl participated in such wedding by marrying a 23-year-old teacher. This was widely reported.

Recently, the syariah court granted permission to a father to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to a 19-year-old boy. In the application for permission, it was cited that the girl had run away to stay with her boyfriend and refused to come home. Marriage was, apparently, the only solution to solve the problem and to protect the family’s honour and reputation.

If only life was that simple.

Let’s consider what the laws of this country say about children under 18 or 16. They can’t enter into a binding contract save for those which affect their necessities. They can’t even buy tobacco products and alcohol. They can’t have a driving licence. They can’t watch movies of certain types without an adult accompanying them. They cannot be contractually employed. They surely can’t vote in a general election. They also cannot enter clubs. Generally, a boy or man can’t have sexual relationship with any girl of 16 or less even with her consent. That would be statutory rape.

Why is that? That is because the law assumes that a girl or any person, regardless of gender, of less than 18 year old (or 16 in the case of statutory rape) is not able to give free consent. For the uninitiated, free consent is a necessary element in a contract or in sexual acts in order to determine whether the acts constitute rape or otherwise.

Regardless of the above, strangely, sexual acts involving girls of 16 or less will be all right and completely legal if she is legally married! The law is indeed an ass!

If children under 18, or as the case may be 16 years of age, are presumed by law not to be able to give free consent to enter into a contract or to have sexual relationship — or to exercise proper judgment whether or not to buy tobacco products or alcohol — on what premise does the state legalise such sexual acts through a state-sanctioned marriage?

What is most unsatisfactory about the marriage of the 12-year-old is the blatant transfer and absolution of parental responsibilities by the parents and the courts to the 19-year-old groom as well as the 12-year-old bride. Reading the case, the first question which crept up in every reasonable person would be, “how can a 12-year-old girl have a boyfriend?” And “how can a 12-year-old run from home to be with her 19-year-old boyfriend?” Then, we would ask “what will happen to the 12-year-old after her marriage?” “How is she going to cope with all the responsibilities that come with a marriage?” “Can she be a good mother?” “Can the 19-year-old support his family?”

On July 19, 2012, Malaysia ratified the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child with the following reservations:

“The Government of Malaysia accepts the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child but expresses reservations with respect to articles 2, 7, 14, 28 paragraph 1 (a) and 37, of the Convention and declares that the said provisions shall be applicable only if they are in conformity with the Constitution, national laws and national policies of the Government of Malaysia.”

The Convention defines a child as “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.”

Article 18 provides:

“States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern.”

Article 19 provides:

“States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.”

In view of the aforesaid provisions, which we as a nation have chosen to accept without reservation, it is thus with a degree of perplexity that child marriages, even involving girls as young as 12, are taking place without nary a thought on the welfare of the child and the responsibilities of her parents.

Corrigendum

In “Secular on Non-secular — what history tells us”, I have reproduced a section of the Reid Commission report with a sentence unintentionally omitted. I wish to take responsibility and apologise for that omission. The particular section should read as follows (with the omitted part in bold):

“We have considered the question whether there should be any statement in the Constitution to the effect that Islam should be the State religion. There was universal agreement that if any such provision were inserted it must be made clear that it would not in any way affect the civil rights of non-Muslims. In the memorandum submitted by the Alliance it was stated — ‘the religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion and shall not imply that the State is not a secular State’.” — art-harun.blogspot.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Law is artificial and is not higher than the law governing 2 individuals in what they decide with each other. Sama suka sama (this is Malay for consensual and mutual) is more important than all of the above and can overrule the mere word of law being as aspect of law via spirit of law. A mob of hantu in British smocks (i.e. judges – being rhetorical here) have no right to pressure the young lovers who’s young tender minds doubtless will be impacted by the sheer pathos of society and the false ethos of Syariah or Civil court over emotions between 2 people. The statuary rape concept is nonsense so long as there was genuine love between any persons in any cases. And this is the law of ‘god’ or ‘nature’.

Much like sexuality, attraction is natural or god given, and a whole mob of adults in society should never have any say. As for finance etc.. the state can easily handle that instead of enriching politicians and cronies. The funds should go to allowing these very young couples to set up home etc.. As in normal adult cases, sometimes there will also be divorces, but divorce or even break ups is a mechanism of the environment and people around them influencing them. Without any external influence whatsoever, normal marriage ages should drop drastically which looks like that is what nature intended.

The issue is to ensure the instance education begins for a child that relationships especially life relationships like marriage are taught to them and even citing good yet very clear negative and positive examples of marriage and what entails so that a few months after your child can read and write they will know all the basics but yet also not be influenced. That is why we have PUBLIC EDUCATION, to ensure the insanity of the parent’s marital lives or society’s sexual taboos do not colour the children’s ability to be independent.

The use of the law as above is vicious and manipulative and needs amending.

PETALING JAYA, Dec 4 — The family of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was linked today to a company that supplies the controversial digital electricity meters to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) alleged to have hiked up energy consumption bills and gained the national utility company billions of ringgit in profit.

According to PKR’s investment bureau chief Wong Chen, Noor Asiah Mahmood, who is the younger sister to Abdullah’s (picture) first wife, the late Tun Endon Mahmood, owns Ombata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd, which has a 15 per cent share in Malaysian Intelligence Meters Sdn Bhd, the latter which is one of five companies contracted by TNB to supply the new digital meters.

Wong alleged that the programme to switch analogue power meters for digital ones had showed consumers would be contributing RM6.88 billion to TNB’s profit over the course of 10 years. The programme has been stopped temporarily on the orders of Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui since October.

“Our research shows TNB has 8.03 million consumers now and the average price for each meter is RM250, therefore this programme had the potential to reach RM2 billion.

“For the financial year 2012, TNB’s revenue from all consumers is RM34.4 billion, if the electronic meter had given a conservative raise of two per cent, the additional burden on consumers would be as much as RM688 million a year.

“Seeing as the life expectancy of this meter is only 10 years, consumers would ultimately have to pay as much as RM6.88 billion to TNB for that duration,” Wong told a news conference at the opposition party’s headquarters here.

PKR strategy director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was also present, said the issue was not a small matter as consumers would have to pay up to 50 per cent of the cost of their power bills.

“Therefore, PKR urges TNB to be transparent and responsible in this matter to reveal who are the electronic meter suppliers, the price paid for the meters and whether it was competitively priced at local and international standards, and whether an open tender had been called or was it a direct negotiation?” Nik Nazmi asked.

The Seri Setia state lawmaker also called for TNB to fund an independent body to investigate consumer complaints on the new meters and to act on the findings that bind the utility company to consumers.

Last October, Chin said TNB had halted the replacement of analogue electricity meters with electronic meters until a standard operating procedure could be fixed.

He had made the decision after receiving public complaints saying power consumption had spiked after switching to the new digital meters, causing them to be also billed “retrospectively”.

“This operation will go on but our main task is to educate people on the new meter,” the minister had said then.

However, Chin had said replacing the analogue devices with the new meters would continue for households where the electricity meters were damaged or suspected to have been tampered with, resulting in losses.

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The B*!@#$%s had everything, society gave them all the power to help the nation, believed in their goodness, yet greed still could reach these spiritually weak willed and corrupted men :

i) political power in the (greedy?) bid for PM, cost perhaps B*!@#$%’s mother

Those who keep taking and never regarding those who help them, will never be have enough to pay from places where they have never and do not deserve to work, when time to collect comes. Some of us ‘work’ harder than most, some of the worst just take the efforts, and give away the nation’s treasures and harm the country despite everything. Only the deserving should be given high position – on a net tally, B*!@#$% has harned the nation and done less than what the lowliest street sweeper does for a living . . . and I won’t even get into KJ (and the 4th floor boys) as well . . . Forced Military Conscriptions btw were implemented during B*!@#$%s watch, this is the classic example of the smiling crocodile politician, very disappointing and hopefully not characteristic of the Malays as a race.

ARTICLE 4

GO ON LEAVE, Hisham told – Monday, 03 December 2012 16:06

Former inspector general of police Musa Hassan’s claim of interference by Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein in police affairs has been described as serious, and as such PAS Youth said the latter must go on leave pending a probe.

“Hishamuddin should be a gentleman and emulate Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil, Wanita UMNO head) who took leave following the National Feedlot Corporation scandal,” said PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.

Musa last week dropped a bombshell ahead of the 66th UMNO general assembly accusing Hishamuddin of violating police protocols by giving instructions to junior police officers and a district police chief without his knowledge.

“So, I highlighted to him (Hishammuddin) Section 4 (1) of the Police Act (1967, which says) that the command and control of the police is by the IGP and not the minister. Of course, I cannot be rude to him as (he is) a minister. I talked to him nicely. He didn’t like it,” said Musa.

Hishamuddin sidestepped the allegation saying it was Musa’s ploy to divert attention from the UMNO meeting.

Musa however dismissed Hishamuddin’s claim as a personal opinion.

Nasrudin meanwhile called for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate Musa’s allegation.

He hoped the police would protect the people “based on law instead of protecting (a) political party by following its instruction blindly”.

-Harakahdaily

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Good. ‘Rule-of-law’ is taking out the political-bureaucracy as well. The judiciary should learn from Musa and take out the obvious among politicians who have harmed the nation – by Human Rights principles, an ex-Police Chief could by popular revolt overturn a government (presumably in Malaysia’s case to grant the below 3 items) as per the Human Rights Charter and Islamic principles of non-discrimination and non-disenfranchisement – to ah . . . ‘protect the minorities’ Human Rights‘ and ‘dignify properly practiced Islam‘ . . . ahem.

The international community is behind both police and judiciary if such actions were taken, and that makes Bar Council a farce for not acting before I posted this and several earlier comments. What happened in some of our lives really? Decades long audits of the system? Looks like the political bunch had better be serious in the future, in any case term limits as well. Perhaps the police could turn the tables on the REAL criminals of the country.

PAS should know that every ethical act they do is being cancelled by every Islamist action of abuse against especially non-Muslims PAS makes. PAS is not moving forward at all and confirms PAS’s use of ethics as an expedient (PAS seems to have no love or understanding of ethics and principles, but knows the value of using the same.) counter-apologist actions to balance Islamism, which is not what almost all Malaysians want. Perhaps PAS is not a political party and more a religious organisation that should go to Al Azhar at Cairo to learn about separation of faith and state.

Sultans know the difference even as Sultans themselves have most probably tacitly approved Malaysia’s other great flaw . . . the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA by not taking initiatives in starting a Royal commission to grant the above 3 items :

Keep selling out human rights principles and accepting inequality as normal, and in the end Kaveas will not deserve to be a HUMAN. (Hate to sound ‘spiritually racist’, but caste stature cannot be erased apparently even with all the wealth and stature in the temporal world that Kaveas has) to accept such status as 2nd class citizens is surely a sign of lower caste ancestry . . . only equality is acceptble . . . ) Traitor to the UN and traitor to the idea of equality and ‘The Enlightenment’ which would never accept the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA.

KUALA LUMPUR- DAP chairman Karpal Singh is deeply touched by the apology made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to him on Thursday, the last day of the August house sitting.

Karpal who is Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament said this in a statement here today.

In reciprocal, he also asked for forgiveness for the many transgression in which an apology was due from him to Pandikar Amin.

On Thursday, Pandikar Amin apologised to Karpal over his spontaneous remarks that the MP might have been suffering from pain for not raising his hand when taking oath as an MP.

The incident happened at the beginning of the 12th parliament session on April 28, 2008 and Pandikar Amin in his apology said that he only found out later that Karpal could not raise his hand.

Pandikar Amin also said the remarks was made when he was still new and had no intention to hurt anyone and he would feel bad if he did not apologise to Karpal.

— BERNAMA

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Whats ‘touching’ (being sarcastic here) is that Karpal’s physical pain is more important than the meaning of the MP’s post, and the fact that Pandikar Amin is effectively on the side of those that will not grant :

A$$ hurting? Aww poor baby. Remember we still live under apartheid and not be swayed by sweet nothings . . . Karpal is getting old and weak no? Replacement time . . . No need to ‘sayang’ whatever injuries . . . the best apology would be to END APARTHEID and a timely snap back along these lines from Karpal would have been better for the Rakyat than this maudlin sentimentality. Term limitless, nepotistic colluding MPs on BN and Pakatan sides who care more about this sort of sandiwara are the worst kind of politician. Politicians are disposable, get in there for your 1 term and 23K x 4 years of salaries (thats near 1 million btw), amend some laws and get out, we don’t need this sort of old friends among term limitless dictators and nepotists pathos to muddy the voter’s minds with regards the above 3 items.

Najib asked voters to give BN more time to execute the changes it has planned for the country. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ? Again calling for change in Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today voters are choosing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because they want to send a message to the ruling coalition.

“The message is for us to change as a party,” the BN chairman said while launching the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) annual general meeting (AGM) here.

“They want BN as a party to be more fair, inclusive, and so that every citizen of Malaysia will receive equal treatment and benefits from BN.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas’s address, in which the latter said voters are flocking to PR because they are “worried” by perceived discrimination and prejudice under BN’s rule.

Fresh from closing Umno’s annual assembly here yesterday, Najib again called on voters to give BN more time to renew itself by supporting it in the polls.

“We’re in the process of renewal. Real changes are taking place in Malaysia.

“Real changes are taking place while the same party is in power in Malaysia,” the Umno president said.

Najib also criticised the “Ubah” (change) slogan touted by DAP and PR, comparing their call for change to the recent “Arab Spring” revolution.

“If we change, are we sure we’re getting something better?

“(The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the ‘spring weather’. They’re still in the winter of discontent,” Najib said.

The prime minister said that the revolutions in the Middle East had caused the countries involved to lose out on tourism and currency exchange, as well as suffer declines to their security.

But Najib also confessed that winning the next general election will not be easy, saying that voters’ opinions were now easily swayed by current issues.

“Before this, we can just put a songkok (to contest) and we would still win.

“Now we need to read the desires of the public, understand the wishes of the people.”

Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

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Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice. The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

Politics should be about bettering civilian lives regardless of faith or ethnicity via honesty, and civilisational Islam (or any other religion), is not about crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we’d be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion.

Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the ‘needs basis’ is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender ‘quotas’, which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, disenfranchises the minorities, and men in general wherever quotas for women occur. Let the best people lead irrespective of faith gender or ethnicity, and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. A first world ‘Meritocracy’ of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority where the minority loses the rights to majority much like Morsi described – why can’t ALL RIGHTS be included in that sickening draft resolution that favours Islam so much?!? Egypt is NOT Islamist-Arabist, Egypt is Polytheistic AND uses Hieratic . . . Egyptians INVENTED BEER and also ate pork, Egypt was not Islamic UNTIL the Arabs militarily subjugated and conquered the Egyptians and destroyed and forbade Egyptian culture . . . ) must include :

If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system BN must ensure the above 3 items with that mandate BN already has. If BN does not grant the above 3 items, there is no point giving that mandate to BN again in GE13. BN can make the choice to as PM Najib said, ‘. . . treat every citizen equally . . .’.

DEC 1 — The recently announced National Education Blueprint contains nothing new. And it shows the powers-that-be have no real intention to listen to the public or make any bold reforms to our ailing education system.

It is a repetition of the sad old story about racial prejudice, not much different from the so-called “National” Education Policy which was largely based on Umno’s Malay nationalist belief that the national language should be the sole medium of instruction.

Proponents of the Malay-medium-only policy also emphasise the Malay nationalist perspective of history that having one common language — such as in our neighbours Indonesia and Thailand — can save Malaysia from disintegration.

Racial prejudice and political demagoguery as the basis for our nation’s education agenda of true unity will not get us far. Let me prove how discriminatory is our education system and the false impressions that it projects.

How my friend succeeded in the US

I had a taste of victory for what it means to have “equal opportunities” in education about 30 years ago when I argued for admission, on behalf of a schoolmate, into an American university which has produced some Nobel laureates.

My friend was originally from Taiwan but studied in a Chinese independent secondary school in Malaysia. She did not sit for the SPM or UEC. To my surprise, the admission officer of the American university requested for UEC results in lieu of SPM qualifications.

She did not sit the UEC because the exam was still new at that time. After a long discussion, the admission officer agreed with my proposal that she be admitted conditionally on producing evidence of completing 12 years of primary and secondary education — a standard which almost all American universities and colleges go by.

She was then admitted “under probation” for one semester, meaning she would be considered a regular student after the period of study with a GPA of 2.0 and above (an average of C and above). She graduated eventually without any impediment.

Her experience goes to show how democratic, liberal and flexible the American education system is. This is one of the key factors that allow the United States to become the most technologically advanced country, and one to which many talents from other parts of the world choose to emigrate.

The value of the UEC

In the 1970s, nobody in Malaysia took the UEC exams seriously except for the powers-that-be which attempted to ban it on account that the exam was (perceived to be) “anti-national”.

Nonetheless besides Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore where the UEC was recognised, many American universities and colleges had already begun accepting it as a gateway for college admission. As far back as exactly 30 years ago, one of my classmates was admitted to the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology based on her UEC results and Chinese independent school coursework assessments.

Would our public universities and UiTM open its admission policies and welcome UEC holders by integrating them into the mainstream higher education institutes rather than discriminating them? Some top American universities even admit Chinese independent secondary school students based on school results and class ranking without referring to standardised examinations such as SPM, UEC, GCE, SAT and the like.

Yet after 30 long years, our own Malaysian government still despises the UEC as “anti-national”. In fact, except for respective language subjects, all UEC subjects are offered in three languages, in other words, one can opt to have his maths, science or other papers tested in English, Malay or Chinese.

Chinese independent school graduates are barred from using their UEC results as a means of admission to local public universities and teacher training colleges. This discrimination is deemed necessary to maintain Umno’s self-righteous “National Education Policy” for the promotion of “interracial unity”.

How can political demagoguery such as Umno’s ever help in promoting national unity and interracial integration? One could argue that the party is actually more interested in maintaining its tight grip on power by continuing to mislead the country that vernacular schools somehow pose a hidden threat.

STPM and matriculation — apple and orange?

The powers-that-be have since declared that racial quotas are no longer applied in local public universities. Instead, they claim a “merit-based” admission system has been put in place.

However, at the same time, university admission standards are “diversified” into two separate entry points — STPM and matriculation.

After years of protests by the non-Malays, only 10 per cent of matriculation programmes has been opened up to the non-Bumiputeras, and even this percentage is described by the Malay nationalists as a “sell-out” of Malay rights.

Non-Malays are supposed to be grateful for this small “kindness”, like once upon a time coloureds were supposed to thank their white masters for allowing them to go to schools in apartheid South Africa despite great disparities along racial lines in school facilities.

Almost all the non-Malays who managed to gain a seat in local public universities are students who sat the STPM. Many rue this blatant division of university entrance assessment — de facto along racial lines — as comparing apples and oranges.

Satu Sekolah’s inherent contradiction

The authorities contradict themselves by professing a single-language system to promote national unity through putting children under one roof but at the same time segregating them either at Form 1 or when they finish Form 5.

There is an obvious discrepancy between the teaching facilities provided to the vernacular schools which sorely lack government aid and support and the residential schools and Mara junior science colleges as well as the elite schools catering for Malays — e.g. the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) and Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC).

Institutional racism practised in public university admission routes gives rise to an added dimension of polarisation. The racial distribution of students is further exacerbated when non-Malays, erroneously seen as well-to-do, are enrolled in private higher institutions of learning. Most people seem to forget that privately funded education, whether locally or abroad, comes at a heavy cost to their parents.

The indirect makings of apartheid

To generalise most Malays as “poor” and all non-Bumis, particularly the Chinese, as “rich” is just as good as apartheid.

The Malay ultras believe they are above being associated with the apartheid system in South Africa created with the ostensible excuse of helping the “poor”, Dutch-speaking whites of that country.

But then what should the international community make of UiTM — Malaysia’s biggest public university with campuses in every state — where almost all its students belong predominantly to a single race?

In the former apartheid of South Africa and during the 1950s in the Confederate states of the American south, physical segregation was made visible by the sign saying “No Coloured and Dogs allowed”.

In Malaysia, there are no signs to say “No Non-Bumis and Dogs allowed”. However, de facto apartheid still permeates through the fabric of the Malaysian public education system. It is de facto racial segregation in its utmost hypocritical disguise without leaving any physical evidence.

Therefore, I see no difference between those poor whites in the former Confederate states of the American south that once held demonstrations against university admission of black students and those Malay ultras that hold demonstrations barring “non-Bumiputeras” from entering local public institutions.

UiTM students did after all demonstrate against their university opening its door a crack when Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim proposed relaxing the admission just a tiny bit to the so-called “non-Bumis”.

America’s highest court ruled for equality

In Brown vs Board of Education (1954), the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”.

It stinks of double standards if not a glaring blind spot when vernacular schools keep getting blamed for institutional racism in Malaysia. If mother-tongue vernacular schools (open to all students) are incorrectly termed as racist, then the one-race UiTM is nothing but apartheid.

The old, presumed poverty line along the race divide is no longer valid, not when Malaysia has endured discriminative policies predicated on ethnicity since 1970, which is all of 42 years or almost half a century.

There are very few Malay intellectuals willing to tackle the truth of the matter but Dr Azly Rahman is one of them. At least he’s been honest and bold enough to speak out on the “bankrupt Umno ideology” of race supremacy in his article “Dismantle Our Apartheid Education”.

What is required is for more members of the Malay intelligentsia to question the veracity of a “moral” claim in the perpetuation of a quota system that amounts to apartheid. The only difference is that segregation, like that perpetuated by residential schools, Mara junior colleges and UiTM, is couched using terminology portraying a righteous morality.

The other difference is that Chinese schools are accessible to any non-Chinese but UiTM does not welcome the non-Malays. In some Chinese independent secondary schools, non-Chinese are given a blanket free tuition.

Are Malays courageous to re-evaluate?

The Malays are a strong majority in numbers and without doubt politically dominant. Why should Umno cling tenaciously to the view that preferential treatment based on race is the “affirmative action” that Malays still require?

Professor Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi in “Memories of Unity” vividly describes his confidence to compete in his science class and how he emerged one of the top students among his almost all Chinese classmates back in the 1970s.

I had a Malay classmate who went to the same Chinese independent school as I did. He graduated as one of the top students and went to a local public university, and he is currently a lecturer at another local public university.

It is a myth that Bumi students are unable to compete with non-Bumi students on a level playing field. This misconception is wrongly used to justify the institutional racism imposed on the public education from top to bottom.

There are tens of thousands of Malays who have made it in local and prestigious foreign universities and thrived in adverse sociocultural settings. There is no moral justification for segregating Malaysian post-secondary students into STPM/ matriculation except for satisfying Umno’s racial imperatives.

NEP and education apartheid

A few successful Malay billionaire cronies do not mitigate the failure with regard to certain protectionist areas of the NEP. This includes educational apartheid. The rejuvenation of the vernacular schools since the late 1970s when NEP went into full swing is a consequence of our race policies, and not the chief cause of racism.

The NEP was based upon the empirical generalisation that Chinese and Indian Malaysians were all well off and should be “positively discriminated” against in order to help the “poor Malays”.

It’s a different story today as the civil service has become Malay dominated and this is empirical truth. The tables have been turned as Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent are marginalised.

The original purpose of the NEP to eradicate the identification of race with profession — Malay farmer, Chinese shopkeeper, Indian clerk — is sidetracked when the civil service has become wholly identified with the Malay race. The racial traits along professions, as reflected in the hiring practices of both the private and public sectors, have been deepened by the NEP.

When I recently requested some documents to be certified by a government department, the Malay clerk gave me a jealous one-eye wink knowing that it was for the purpose of applying to colleges in the US. The one-eye wink might perhaps have been nothing more than the coded message that all you “Chinamen” are rich and can afford to send your children overseas to be educated. This only goes to show up the failure of the NEP in correcting the racial prejudice among races in Malaysia.

How the Chinese prioritise education

The fact is that I told my children I would sell our house and live in a smaller one if we needed funds for their education. I mean education is where they would learn something new and be happy including getting away from institutional racism. We neither hope for JPA or any other government scholarships after hearing so many sad stories of racial degradation.

Selling homes and other property for the sake of children’s education among the lower and middle-class Chinese Malaysians is not a new practice. I remember my mother decided to sell off the six-acre rubber plantation left by my deceased father to put me and my sister through university.

She later worked as a babysitter to cover all our expenses studying overseas. We always thought that there might be more Malays who did not have land to sell. Nonetheless, our good reasoning has not helped many Malays to get rid of their own ingrained racial prejudice both against themselves and other races.

As I write this article, coincidentally, my 17-year-old daughter has just received news that a high-ranking American university has agreed to admit her into their Fine Arts programme based on her multiple talents, multilingual skills and ability to play the Chinese zither and flute. Some universities already made it clear, admitting her by waiving the requirement of her SPM or UEC results.

On the contrary, her talent in playing ancient Chinese musical instruments is definitely not a criterion for admission into any local public university. On the contrary, it may even work against her favour as it could be looked at as a form of Chinese chauvinism and clinging to our ancestral roots.

Deserving of places in local universities

I am not trying to boast about my daughter’s academic achievement. She is actually a B-average student but it sure makes a parent proud when one’s child deservedly gains recognition for her talents, and more importantly she will be able to further develop her talents without being labelled as a non-Bumi.

I am glad that her dedication to social work and extracurricular activities, including organising a joint concert of Chinese orchestra and western bands, won her recognition from some highly ranked American universities.

One of her recent achievements is receiving a gold medal in an international Chinese essay-writing contest in Taiwan. Instead of chucking her unique credential aside, an American university admission director gave great words of encouragement, such as “your family must be very proud of you (for the gold medal received) …We would like you to be with us, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the international programme here if you decide to join us”.

I was surprised that she was offered admission and given a partial academic scholarship before we even sent out applications to other American colleges and local private universities.

Some universities are amazed that our students can master two or three languages. They usually give positive encouragement like: “Considering English is your third language, your English is really good.” No parents will send their kid to a college where he or she faces the possibility of being humiliated and degraded on account of race, creed and “non-native status” when my daughter is actually a native-born fourth-generation Malaysian.

As a matter of fact, most UEC holders have a greater proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia, which is their second language, compared to English, which is their third language. If the UEC holders can do well in universities overseas that teach in English, why can’t they be given the same opportunities by our local public universities?

It might be true that their Bahasa Malaysia may not be as good compared with SPM/STPM holders just as their English may not be as good as the Americans, British or Australians when they enrol in American, Australian or British universities. However if they are given the opportunity to enrol in local public universities, they will be able to polish their BM just like how when given the opportunity to study abroad they are able to polish their English.

More importantly, such openness is needed in order to “converge” the vernacular school alumni into the local higher education institutions and complete an education integration process than forcibly “diverge” them to local private institutions and overseas colleges.

We have to be fair and realistic in assessing our students’ language ability based on what is the best they can do in their learning environment. In fact, cultural immersion is the best method to improve Malay language or any other second language proficiency instead of educational segregation like what has been practiced here.

Some 30 years ago, it was rare to encounter Americans learning an Asian language. Today there are American reporters who insist on interviewing me in perfect Mandarin or Bahasa Indonesia. It is a fast-changing world out there but it seems our Umno elites — with the exception of Najib Razak whose son is a fluent Mandarin speaker — are lagging behind time.

The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia.

It is, on the other hand, our fear to embrace cultural diversity and true interracial integration that has left us lagging behind many other countries. It is time for the Malay ultras to open their eyes and correct their ingrained prejudice that has worked against their own competitiveness. — CPI Asia

* This article was originally published by CPI Asia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Is interracial integration more possible under convergence or divergence? — Boo Cheng Hau

How about stopping with the inculpation of hegelian dialectic Orwell state b.s. and understanding that EITHER / OR in this issue should be replaced with :

;and all groups will fall into the new line of EQUALITY. Without equality, there will be no integration much less INTERRACIAL integration.

. . . The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia. . . .

That is NOT a first step, that is LIP SERVICE because not scapegoating does not mean policy which scapegoats minority changes, a REAL furst step is granting the above 3 items and if the scapegoating continues at that point the policy of equality would easily overtake scapegoating which will just be bad form that Malaysians will not even care about that will mark the politican as a bad citizen instead. ctual policy is more important than what politicnas say to occupy the people. Looks like BN’s propagandists have exposed BN’s intentions – never to grant the above 3 items. If 3rd force doesn’t make GE13 in time, 3rd force had better be prepared for GE14 where the threat of NEPOTISM and LIMITLESS TERMS, and STATE COLLUSION in GLC and crony contractors in Pakatan Rakyat will be the greatest threat EVEN as the above 3 items are not even granted by Pakatan’s discussions so far. End the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA and give freedom of religion to the Malays. Going apostate in Islam IS NOT PUNISHABLE and should not mean Bumi Privileges will be withdrawn from the Malays even as these same rights should be the rights of ALL Malaysians regardless of faith or ethnicity but rather economic status ONLY. Ask the Al-Azhar Islamic University if apostasy was punishable in the prophet’s time or liable for ‘Islamic Re-education’ to keep followers, Malaysian Syariah laws on apostasy are all ILLEGAL in Islamic jurisprudence!

PETALING JAYA – Former inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pix) has called on the police and Home Ministry to publicly disclose all crime statistics so as to not confuse people about the actual crime situation in the country.

“The police should disclose all statistics as the people would like to know why there are street crimes around when the NKRA (National Key Results Area) showed that the crime is dropping.

“We do not say that they (government) are manipulating the statistics but the people might be confused if they don’t reveal all the reports,” he told a press conference here today.

Expressing his backing for the Malaysian Crime Watch Group (MyWatch), a non-governmental organisation which aims to educate and increase awareness on the preparation and prevention of crime, he said a public awareness campaign is important in helping the government and police combat crime at the grassroots level.

Musa claimed that the police now not only heed the IGP but also have to report to government servants outside the force.

He said the police should remain apolitical and not let any political influences seep into the force.

“I’m not hitting at the government. Nobody called me personally (to discuss) and there’s nothing on the paper (reporting change). I want to see police force improved. I don’t want things to be politicised because the police force needs to be improved for the sake of the people,” he said.

“If you want proof, you have to read it in the (news)papers, there are enough proof (of government interference). Now even the police are confused when the chief secretary of the KDN (Home Ministry) directs the police and the police complain to me.

“Perception comes from a real person’s action. So it (interference) is real,” he added.

-thesundaily

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Arrest all corrupt politicians (guess who was the MOST CORRUPT . . . ) in some Ops not amounting to a police coup. The Dewan should be emptied by the next session and most of the corrupted MPs and Assemblymen should yield a nice fat purse for Malaysia with those frozen accounts’ monies. What say you independent among judiciary and good cops? The international community and goodly among our top institutions and citizens would applaud. Perhaps a stint as interim PM as well since most of DAP are too nepotistic and Mubarak-like to qualify for the Pm’s post? Heck, pull together a few generals and consult Susilo (not for a ‘ganyang’ of Malaysia but a precise ‘ganyng’ of Malaysia’s WORST citizens . . . most Malaysians wouldn’t miss corrupted politicians and racists anyway.

KUALA LUMPUR- “Rosmah Mansor”, a book which chronicles the life of the prime minister’s wife, was launched today by the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Yayasan Amanah Perdana Malaysia chairman Shamsulbahrin Ludin, the book’s publisher, said the new biography will allow readers a well-rounded glimpse into Rosmah’s life from her childhood to the present.

“Some of the facts presented in this book have never been told to anyone before.”

Its highlights, he said, include her marriage to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – in particular, the challenges she faced first as the wife of a cabinet minister, deputy prime minister and now the country’s leader.

Written in an informal and relaxed tone, the book features stories from her school days at Tunku Kursiah College, Negeri Sembilan, and includes interviews with her closest friends.

“Many would want to know what life was like when she was a child, in primary and secondary schools.

“In addition to her life in campus and in the workforce, her life at the TKC was filled with interesting events which will certainly draw special attention,” Shamsulbahrin said.

The book also includes a special chapter in which Rosmah addresses the public rumours surrounding her life, whether regarding her family or her involvement in current events.

“Most importantly, we expect this book to provide answers in response to slanderous comments leveled at (Rosmah).

“In other words, it is a small effort by us to show her best attribute, that is her humility, through this book,” Shamsulbahrin said.

The 164-page biography also details her involvement in community work, especially her efforts to develop the Permata Negara programme, her engagement with non-government organisations as well as her participation in Bakti and in various international programmes.

It also showcases a collection of old and recent photographs.

The book’s soft launch was held as part of Rosmah’s birthday celebration, which included performances by singer Misha Omar and students from the Permata Seni programme.

Present at the ceremony were the Royal Consort of Pahang Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom, Najib and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

-NST.COM

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Names which turn out especially bad in another language might be the cause of some of the antipathy between races. Won’t mention which but those who know English and Hokkien dialect should easily figure which one . . .

ARTICLE 11

HOW TO BE NEUTRAL? EC officers have right to join political parties – chief – Monday, 10 December 2012 17:11

KUALA LUMPUR— Election Commission (EC) officers are within their democratic right to join political parties but they must not be partisan in carrying out their duties, says its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

The EC chairman disclosed this when responding to accusations by PAS that a senior EC officer in Sabah was holding a key post in the Kinabatangan Umno Youth chapter. The EC’s impartiality has been continuously questioned by the opposition and activists over the past years.

“There is nothing wring for any EC officer to join political parties. It doesn’t matter if they are in PAS, PKR or Umno.

“It is their democratic right,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted over the issue.

But Abdul Aziz said that EC officials should not side with any parties or abuse their powers when carrying out their duties.

He also stressed that the EC welcomed reports from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) if the commission officials abused their powers, saying the opposition parties should lodge complaints and provide proof of wrongdoing.

“If there is proof to show the officer is in the wrong, please submit the proof. If possible, give the name, position and pictures.

“We will investigate without favour no matter who the officer is,” Abdul Aziz said.

The former top civil servant agreed that EC officials who are in political parties should not mix their duties with political ideology, saying it went against the work ethics of those in government service.

The EC chairman pointed out there were no regulations or laws that prevent government officials from joining political parties, except that those active in politics must apply for permission from the Public Service Department (PSD).

Sabah PAS Youth chief Lahirul Latigu had asked the EC to explain how its officials can hold posts in political parties, saying the silence would affect the commission’s credibility to ensure the democratic process is carried out in the country.

“If the EC still chooses to keep silent on this issue, PAS Youth will not hesitate to expose details about the officer who is in politics,” he had said.

Reports of EC officers holding posts in Umno have surfaced over the years, including allegations that Abdul Aziz and his deputy, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, are members of the ruling party.

Following such reports against the top two EC officials last May, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz denied that Abdul Aziz was an Umno member as alleged by PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He disclosed that Abdul Aziz had registered as an Umno member more than 30 years ago in the Ampang Umno division but had since left the party.

“The EC chairman has already clarified that he isn’t an Umno member. He has also made sure about it,” Nazri had said.

-The Malaysian Insider

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Simple. Make laws that disallow EC officers from joining political parties.

The EC postholders and salaries jobs must ALL be people with no political party memberships, no business links to any politicians or even with businesses WITH links to politicians (the more distant the better and should be the criteria for EC posts). We can’t have family blocs like in the Pakatan family nepotism party. This way VESTED INTEREST can be avoided. So anyone who fulfil the above criteria ready to offer themselves for 1 term jobs? This will ensure Malaysia is a clean country. The ROS (Registry of Socities), MACC (Acnti-Corruption Agency), PAC (Public Accounts Committee) and Bar Council btw, should also be staffed in a similar manner.

We have three kids and have been married for five years, so we’re well out of the honeymoon period.

We’re both in our mid-30s and have been together since we were teenagers.

I really thought as men got older their sex drive declined, but it’s the opposite with my hubby!

Basically, if he had his way we’d be at it three times a day, every day.

I thought he might be insecure so I talked to him about it, but it turns out he just loves sex!

I love him to pieces, but I can’t keep up!

I’ve tried telling him all this, but the words “No, love, not tonight” just don’t register with him.

Help me!

Coleen says..

First the good news: it’s better to work out a compromise from this position than be in the situation where you’re having no sex.

It’s really fantastic that he still desires you so much after all those years together – for a lot of couples it’d be the other way round – but it’s only great if it’s what you both want.

Right now you’re feeling under pressure, but it’s a delicate situation and you don’t want to put him off ­altogether or embarrass him.

Tell him how much you love him and fancy him, but that physically you cannot have sex that often and you don’t want to either.

The most successful relationships are the ones where both parties can compromise and that’s what he’s going to have to do now. And you’ll have to do the same.

But don’t let it become a massive issue that affects your otherwise great relationship.

-mirror.co.uk

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A second wife should do the trick. that is why polygamy exists. This article hosts a gay NLP btw – a woman does not need to ‘keep it up’, the writer if female, has penis envy or wants to be a man, otherwise is subversive of men hoping men become gay. Reading too many NLPs of this sort results in gayness, not that gayness per se is bad, but CONTRIVED gayness resulting ftom, NLPs IS bad . . . Malaysian Chronicle should not abuse their readers like this.

ARTICLE 13

BE WARNED DR M & POLITICIANS LIKE SHAHRIZAT: The next May 13 will be very different from 1969 – by Victor Lim – Monday, 10 December 2012 12:08

YES. I couldn’t agree more with Koon Yew Yin (see story reproduced below), a respected Chinese community senior citizen.

I wish to add two very pertinent points which Mr Koon and I overlooked.

Point No.1: The majority of Malays, I believe some 90% of them, don’t pay taxes to the federal government.

They pay what is known as zakat (tithes), a form of Islamic tax.

This means Malaysia has been developed for the past 55 years with contributions from the non-Malays or non-Muslims and the corporate sector.

Therefore, if the business climate is ruined by the super corrupt, evil and racist Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) because it wants to remain in power at all costs, including the propagation of the May 13 violence and bloodshed, who will suffer more? Who is the majority race in Malaysia?

The cousins … the real danger Malaysians’ face

Point No.2: However, should violence really break out after BN-Umno loses the next general election, it will not be the same May 13, 1969.

In 1969, the majority of Malays were really living in abject poverty. They were envious of others who were better off economically.

Today, it is an entirely different scenario. That was the 20th century. We are now in the 21st century.

The Malays today are more informed and are therefore able to make wiser judgments politically.

Unlike 1969, the issues today are not about race. Only BN-Umno, for reasons only known to them, stubbornly refuses to change with the times to remain relevant with the rakyat (people).

Politically Bankrupt

All BN-Umno can focus on is its divide-and-rule archaic political strategy to remain in power at all costs.

BN-Umno uses money and its blind-loyalty supporters to stir emotions and violence at Opposition ceramah (political rallies) or to disrupt peaceful public protests.

BN is just unable to think out of the box and is obviously unable to react rationally after the March 8, 2008 political tsunami shock which saw BN losing its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states.

Blinded by corruption

Over the past four years, as the BN continued to try to impose their brute political might and power on the people with the aim of intimidating the rakyat into submission and subservience, the peoples’ political restlessness grew enormously.

Now, at its own doing, the BN is living in fear of losing its mandate to govern after the 13th General Election. The dissolution of the 222-seat Parliament is automatic on April 28, 2013.

BN has only itself to blame for failing to use the four years to implement reforms that would endear the rakyat and win back their hearts and minds after March 2008.

It refuses to see the rakyat’s demands for justice and clean socio-economic development policies – not continuing with its culture of enriching its families and cronies.

They are the poorest in Malaysia, so the BN-Umno federal government needs to give all the multi-billion ringgit projects to them.

Where has our natural wealth GONE?

It refuses to discard its race and religious political cards for more practical and reforming policies to fast track the progress and prosperity of Malaysians and Malaysia.

Yes! The people are asking: “Where have all the trillions of ringgit in natural resources, including oil and gas, gone?”

Is it also too much to ask the BN government to account for it’s more than RM800 billion federal debt? This, the BN has remained mum.

No wonder, the Opposition is gaining ground

The Opposition PR’s nationwide political rallies are seeing bigger and bigger crowds by the day and the audience comprises all races.

They break into rounds and rounds of thundering applause whenever Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim touches on issues related to the need to do away with non-race based policies in governance to stimulate and fast track Malaysia’s healthy socio-economic growth.

They break into rounds and rounds of applause whenever Anwar explains and proposes people-centric fiscal measures aimed at reducing the financial burden of the people in a fast rising cost of living environment.

Anwar also stresses on the need to provide a higher standard of education for Malaysians, not race, as the impetus for economic and technological excellence. This, he has proposed free education for all, from primary level to tertiary education.

If BN-Umno really resorts to the use of violence when it loses the next general election, it will be the minority Umno Malays fighting with the PKR-PAS Malays backed by the Chinese and Indian communities.

My dear fellow rakyat, it will be very much unlike May 13, 1969.

Friday, 07 December 2012 23:58

If there is another May 13 riot, the MALAYS WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

Written by Koon Yew Yin

If there is another May 13 riot, the MALAYS WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

As the countdown to the general election begins in earnest, we are getting more and more calls from desperate and irresponsible politicians drawing attention to the possibility of a repeat of the infamous May 13 violence if the election results should go against the expectations of various political parties and interests.

The fact that these calls are directed towards the Bumiputera component of our population, are expressed in the national language, and are widely carried in the Malay mass media and Internet world makes me suspicious of the intentions of these politicians who claim that they are simply doing Malaysians a favour by warning of the backlash should the election outcome not bring about a continuation of the present power structure.

To my mind, these politicians are not only applying crude pressure on the Malay electorate to vote for them but they are also blatantly revealing their trump card – that violence, chaos and political instability will automatically erupt in the event that the opposition parties win the elections.

This blackmailing of our electorate as well as incitement of disruptive and hooligan elements in our society is totally unacceptable. Various academicians and politicians from the opposition have spoken up against such fear mongering in the recent past. However, not enough has been done by members of the business community and other professional organizations to speak out against these warnings and threats although they will be the main losers should another May 13 episode take place.

Much more needs to be done by key stakeholders to condemn the individuals and organizations making the threats as the risk of these threats becoming self-fulfilling prophesies increases by the day.

Shahrizat’s not-so-veiled threat

The latest invocation of May 13 took place at the Umno general assembly held recently. In that meeting, the Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that the May 13 tragedy might be repeated should Umno became weak and not be able to overcome its challenges. That this warning was not made obliquely but was served up as part of her opening speech text testifies to the way in which this kind of desperado thinking has become the mainstream in certain political circles.

What is more worrying is that both Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin as Umno president and deputy president, and more importantly as the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, failed to repudiate or rebuke Sharizat for fear mongering. Instead the Deputy Prime Minister attempted to defend the speech by explaining that chaos will be inevitable under Pakatan Rakyat rule.

Other Umno leaders, notably its vice-president Hishamuddin Hussein have even gone so far as to dismiss the attention brought by Shahrizat’s May 13 statement as a case of “spinning” and to put the blame on a pro-opposition media and other opposition elements.

“Shahrizat has already told me that this will be another matter that will be used for spinning by certain quarters, just because it coincides with the general assembly”, the country’s minister in charge of internal security is reported to have said in his dismissal of public concern when questioned about it.

Even if it is a case of over-reaction by the media and a fearful public, it is hoped that Shahrizat and her colleagues will not play with fire or pander to the psyche of insecurity found in Umno party members by constantly harping on the possible recurrence of 13 May and even worst, by condoning or justifying violent and catastrophic racial riots as they appear to be doing in the run-up to the elections.

Aftershocks of electoral violence

Should there be bloodshed and violence arising from the next elections, it will not be non-Malays primarily who will lose out or be hurt by the collapse of the share market and the larger economy as we see a rush to exit the country by local and foreign businesses and investors. It will be all Malaysians especially those who are now enjoying the good life.

Malays must bear in mind that while in 1969 they may have had less to lose, today the situation is completely different. There is Malay control of a major part of the commanding heights of our economy such as the banks, manufacturing, hi-tech industry, etc. and the largest listed companies. These gains which have given birth to the creation of a sizeable Malay middle and upper class will be put at great risk should there be another May 13. They may even disappear as the economic aftershocks and loss of economic confidence spiral out of control.

Another May 13 is unthinkable and unforgivable except to those who are so blinded by ambition and their lust for power that they need to keep reminding themselves and their supporters of that horrific possibility. However, should it happen, unlike in the first May 13 incident, it will be clear as to who are the instigators.

Conclusion:

I trust this article will encourage more stakeholders – bankers, business leaders, academicians and leaders of all political parties – to speak out and condemn those who are using the threat of another May 13 if there is a change of government. The Malays must remember that even if Pakatan Rakyat wins control of the government, there will be more Malay Members of Parliament than from any other races.

The Malays will be the biggest losers if there is another May 13 riot. – cpi

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All Malaysians likely are friends with the real enemies being MPs and Assemblymen on either BN or Pakatan’s side (especially the extreme wealth types, term limitless, or nepotistic) are the ones who pit Malaysians against Malaysian, then pretend to solve problems while making laws worse and fines higher, cost of living higher, but raising their own 23K MP salaries, asking for 750K funerals, having crony businesses and giving crony licences (like the recent Syed Mokhtar’s Puncak Semangat granted by MCMC twice the bandwidth spectrum above all other contractors – vestedinterest and anti-trust or anti-monopoly laws any Judges? No? All legal BEAGLES, not a single legal NGO made a peep . . . ). Guess who instigated the riots? Only those minority citizens directly involved should be subjected to Bumiputra Apartheid. So who should be punished for instigating riots? (hint : the extreme wealth, term limitless, or nepotistic . . . collecting 1 million of YOUR tax monies every 4 year term . . . ) . . . Vote 3rd Force!

Ex-IGP speaks out against transfers, saying that crime syndicates are now operating freely with ‘blessings from the top’.

Good, honest, hardworking police officers are being transferred from their divisions for doing their work with integrity, claimed former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.

Musa suggested that these moves are now allowing more and more criminal syndicates to operate freely with “blessings from somebody on top” and also involved politicians at the highest levels.

Musa gave several examples of such transfers, and spoke out against the nationwide enbloc transfer of D7 officers in early 2011.

“After I left, there was an enbloc transfer of D7 officers, right? Not everybody is bad in the D7, why must you change the whole team?” he asked.

On rumours that the transfers were part of a exercise to facilitate syndicates changing hands, Musa said that was not the case, but said it was “because these officers are taking action, because they know a lot of things.”

“…. they were afraid that they couldn’t direct these people from D7,” he said, without explaining who “they” were.

Musa admitted that many of these people given transfers were those he had promoted at one point, but denied that they were part of his ‘camp’.

“I promoted people because of their capabilities and have done a good job…they were transferred out and not given any ranks.

“[During the D7 redeployment], the whole country, all the IPK contingents headquarters, some were transferred to the field force.”

“See… they were all good officers, when they were under me they arrested quite a number from the syndicates, but now there are no arrests anymore.

Musa said D7 is the division tasked with cracking down on vice, gambling, loansharks, prostitution and also to investigate syndicated crime.

“So they have all the intelligence about them, especially the bosses. These are the ones [D7 officers] who actually go after the [crime syndicate] top [guns].

‘Politicians involved in transfers’

FMT: Why such transfers under [current IGP] Ismail Omar’s time?

Musa: To make it easier for them to operate-lah, because when I was the IGP, most of them went away, they left the country.

When you say “they” you are referring to?

Musa: The syndicate bosses.

So are you then saying the current IGP is openly allowing syndicates to operate?

The home minister had to interfere to stop the then IGP Musa Hassan from promoting and transferring his men who would continue working with criminal elements, claims Raja Petra.

(FMT) – Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, before his retirement, had allegedly promoted and transferred the “right” police officers who will continue to work hand-in-hand with the triads, claimed popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin today.

However, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had interfered in this exercise, and this has caused a lot of problems for the Chinese underworld and crime syndicates.

“And that is why Musa recently gave his interviews – alleging interference by the politicians in the running of the police force. It is true that the minister blocked Musa’s every move,” said Raja Petra in his latest blog posting in Malaysia Today.

Raja Petra said that Hishammuddin had decided to act as he feared that a continuation of Musa’s influence in the police force would have had a backlash on Umno in the coming general election.

“They know that the voters are unhappy with the police force and that may cost Umno a lot of votes.

“Hence if the minister does not rein in the police, then there is a danger that Umno could lose a sizeable number of votes,” said Raja Petra.

In recent weeks, Musa had claimed that during his tenure as the IGP from 2006 to 2010, there had been political interference and inflitration of criminal elements in the police force.

He said that he had raised these issues through the “proper channels” to the prime minister and home minister, but to no effect.

He had also lashed out at his successor Ismail Omar, claiming that he was a weak police chief.

Musa’s detractors, however, had responded by saying that it was Musa who had allowed the triads to take control of the police force, of his alleged corrupt practices, and of his underhand tactics to “fix people up”, including his former boss Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Ramli Yusuff.

Adding to the list of Musa’s detractors, Raja Petra claimed that the former top cop has many grievances against the government, the present IGP Ismail and Hishammuddin.

Musa’s role in Bersih violence?

Raja Petra said Musa’s bitternes was due to the government’s rejection of his request for a further extension as the police chief.

“He then asked to be made the Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei and that too was rejected. Instead, he was given just a teaching job, which, to him, is a great insult when other retired IGPs before him were given ‘good’ posts,” he said.

The blogger also claimed that many suspected Musa’s role in the manner police acted violently against Bersih 3.0 rally-goers on April 28 this year.

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Oh dear RPK is a racist! Or should I say fundamentalist? Crime cyndicates? They’d all rather have legal RLDs, Gambling Outlets (non-4D but all regular casino types) and OPZs which the idiot BN government simply refused out of racism and hatred for non-Muslims. RPK, I am disappointed. The above activities are CRIMINALISED there are no criminals among the Chinese community, the entertainment industry was driven underground then labelled as ‘criminal’ or underworld. Legalise and see how many ‘criminals’ there are. The Chinese by nature are always law abiding but will try to screw those who prevent them from having fun. These Human Rights abuses have been affliting the Chinese community long enough in Malaysia and probably every other non-Muslim tin the Middle East as well. How dishonest and selfish can a race or faith get?

The ex-IGP claims that former MACC advisor Robert Phang was involved in a communication devices deal for the police which did not meet specifications.

Teoh El Sen, FMT

Several senior policemen were transferred out of the Bukit Aman Logistics Department (Communications Division) and put in “cold storage” for refusing to approve a technically unsound project involving walkie talkies worth almost RM1 billion.

It is learnt that the project was mooted towards the end of 2008 and involved the replacement of more than 30,000 new walkie-talkies for beat policemen, stations and vehicles nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak.

However, problems arose a year or two after the project, which was a direct negotiation contract, took off as the implementation of the devices were allegedly not according to specifications.

One of the problems was the apparent lack of coverage or “black spots” in certain areas around the country such as in certain buildings, and in one case very little coverage along the East-West highway despite being promised otherwise.

The other issues, which “deviated from the agreed specificaitons”, include a recording system which sometimes records when nobody speaks and vice versa; and also incidents where the walkie talkie transmits by itself.

However, despite the flaws, sources said that those within the Home Ministry and top ranking policemen were constantly pressuring a team of technical experts to sign the acceptance of the equipment before the issues were smoothed out.

“[Former inspector-general of police] Musa Hassan did not agree to a project that was not done properly but they used KDN [Home Ministry] to force the technical team to do whatever the company wanted. They were under tremendous pressure,” said a source with direct knowledge of the deal.

“By mid 2010, when the first phase was being put out in the Klang Valley, we already noticed that all these problems were surfacing, but they were swept under the carpet.

“They realised that if they signed the project, we will go to jail. So better transfer,” added the source.

Investigate Ismail

Speaking to FMT on this, Musa said when he was still IGP, he kept a close watch on the project to ensure that the equipment was what the police needed. However, he claimed, other parties’ interests crept in after he left.

Musa said that prominent businessman and former MACC advisor Robert Phang was a consultant for the project and acted as a go-between the police and the provider, a multinational telecommunications company.

“Because he was close with the police. So at that time, I believe that there were some government officers in the ministry who was involved in the company.

“Since it was approved by the government, I had to carry it out. But I made sure that the technical team that overseeing the project does not compromise to ensure that it is up to specifications and to ensure that this communication can be used throughout Malaysia without any hiccups.

“So after I left… I was not quite happy because it was still not up to specifications. I was informed that it would not work well and that is why the technical team refused to sign the commission so that money can be paid,” he told FMT.

However, Musa alleged that even Phang threatened the team. “The team received a call from him saying that if you don’t sign it, you will be transferred out.”

True enough, he added, at least three officers ranked DSP, Supt and SAC were then given letters of transfers out of the department.

“So the team refused to sign, and they were called by the IGP. The present IGP [Ismail Omar] asked them to commission it… because they need the government to pay the money… I don’t know how many million. So they got transferred and now it actually went through.

“Officers who have the capability and technical expertise in communication are being put in cold storage by this businessman. That’s how good his connections are. He is very close to the IGP now… very friendly with the home minister,” said Musa.

Musa said that he wanted the authorities to investigate Ismail for possibly abusing his powers and Phang for allegedly abetting the former.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Robert Phang had neglected to address Bumiputra Apartheid, in this case at least from this, I believe Musa’s accusation of duplicity and complicity on Robert Phang’s part. Meanwhile, perhaps Musa had not thought in terms of BEING CHINESE when accusing the so-called syndicates of being ‘criminals’ in the above response. Where synthetics are involved, I am on Musa’s side as well, but everything else labelled criminal by Musa should be dropped as mere entertainment and oppression of Chinese by jealous Muslims who are not supposed to have fun.

The current IGP’s links in the RLD, OPZ or Gambling outlet is Human Rights CORRECT so long as no Muslims are allowed to use the same, and Malaysia’s laws are in fact oppressive and inapplicable. MCA, Gerakan and DAP of course are criminal minded enough to not address these problems while hiding behind a veneer of ‘morality’ but know this, a MAN who cannot tell the difference between Voltarian Freedoms and Fundamentalism expressed Political Expedience are but mere CHILDREN living moralistic fantasies in the childhood. Those who are moral evidently do not under stand civil society and the ETHICS that allow for civilisation by allowing so-called ‘criminal activities’ which are simply entertainments tarred with demogogues and fundamentalists, orwellian minded politicians intent on control by suppression of entertainment.

Adults and free citizens (think Amsterdam’s OPZs, adult zones (RLDs) and various ‘Gambling Districts worldwide, Playboy Clubs, Hustler Clubs, Penthouse Clubs or just the Zona de Tolerancia) who’s faith permits enjoy RLDs, OPZs gambling and what not – NO PERSON OR GROUP IN THE WORLD has the right to prevent another group from having access or to set up such entertainments, though ‘pushing fun’ on the non-consenting is another thing.

The above response describes the sick immatured/oppression-intended pathos of the ethos reliant/blinded Chinese and Indians who are non-‘criminal’, and I am sure the TRULY EDUCATED can relate to and will stand by what this response means. Citizens are not chattel of the state or their faiths or their retarded neighbours, and the CIVILIAN LAWS *MUST* reflect the reality of FREEDOM, Human Rights and Democracy, MUST protect such rights, Muslims or no Muslims, fundos or no fundos of whatever faith or cultlike sect.

And then the above, which ALL politicians have neglected to implement so they can profit off strife and oppression of the libido or the saporific effects of Organic psychedelics! Freud should take up this cause even from beyond the grave . . .

We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS only apply to Muslims.

THERE they go again. The PAS-­controlled Kelantan state government, which has yet to resolve the controversy over the gender segregation ruling on hair salons run by non-Muslims, has now found itself in another explosive issue.

Four non-Muslims – two men on a plane-spotting outing and a couple in a park – have been issued with summonses for khalwat.

The summonses were for “indecent behaviour” but the four have denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the municipal council enforcement officers were “merely abusing their position”.

The first case involved two men in their 30s who were in a car parked beside the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. They claimed they were watching planes land in the night when they were issued with the summonses by these Taliban-style officers.

This writer can only deduce that Kota Baru must be so boring – the result of a ban on entertainment outlets – that the two young men have to watch planes landing at the airport for entertainment. How these officers can consider their action an offence is mind-boggling.

But we know that the PAS politicians have a great sense of imagination and can conjure up fantasies out of seemingly ordinary situations. They think that getting a haircut from a person of the opposite sex can lead to moral decay and watching concerts can lead to hedonism or excessive pleasure, whatever that means.

Malaysians know that these cranky politician-theologians also frown upon the mixed company of males and females, but two non-Muslim men being punished for being in a car together, that’s a new one. Are they telling us now that two men together can lead to immoral activities or that watching planes at the airport can be sexually arousing? Even if they had committed a “gay act”, does the council have any jurisdiction over non-Muslims?

The other case involved a 17-year-old boy and a girl aged 15. They were together at the Tengku Anis Park in the town centre, in broad daylight, when they were arrested. They were approached by the enforcement officers and issued summonses on the spot for purported indecent behaviour.

Nothing seems to be safe any more for non-Muslims in Kota Baru. You get fined for having a hair cut by a hairstylist of a different sex, you get fined for being in love and sharing private moments in a park in broad daylight, and you also get summoned for being in a wrong queue in a supermarket check-out.

Before anyone accuses this writer of filing another PAS-bashing piece, it is important to point out that the protest over the latest controversies was started by the National PAS Supporters Congress president Hu Pang Chaw, who is known for his apologist stand for the Islamist party.

Interestingly enough, Hu has also revealed that the male victims had complained to him that the officers had even sought RM500 “to settle the matter”, which means that these holier-than-thou officers were open to corruption.

Hu added that “as far as I know, the council has no right to issue summonses to non-Muslims for close contact with their girlfriends in the dark or out in the open”. But Hu shouldn’t plead ignorance now because the PAS rules have always infringed upon non-Muslims. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last.

Don’t blame PAS either because they have consistently told Malaysians that their objective is to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State. Barisan Nasional tells us that we are already an Islamic State, but they still keep intact the secular laws and the British-style courts.

But for political expediency, and for selfish political ambitions, there is now a deafening silence from allies of PAS. The only exception seems to be DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who has also consistently spoken up against the hudud laws pushed by PAS. However, his party comrades have decided to keep silent and, worse, are encouraging us to elect more PAS leaders into Parliament and the state assemblies.

It is also pertinent to note that during The Star’s interview with the Sultan of Selangor, the Tuanku had revealed that there were politicians who tried to prevent the opening of cinemas in shopping malls in Shah Alam! This is in Selangor and not even in Kelantan. We can also assume that this must be the work of PAS elected representatives.

We know for a fact that the PAS state assemblyman for Bangi, Dr Shafie Abu Bakar, has prevented a cinema from being set up by a non-Muslim, and that the Kuala Selangor PAS wants to stop unmarried couples from watching movies in a cinema there.

We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS do not affect non-Muslims. Despite the promised intervention by PAS’ top leaders over the hair salon ruling, nothing has changed until today.

In an interview with The Malay Mail on Friday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted as saying “even Chinese wives don’t agree with (unisex) salons”.

He seems out of touch with reality, or pretending to be.

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So sue the government or run for politics to get political immunity to make known to the world what is happening here in Malaysia. Have the respect and ethos, the cash to fund proxy candidates? Don’t talk here from behind the media.

Najib launched the club at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) via tele-conferencing with club members from SM Yu Yuen, Sandakan, Sabah.

The Prime Minister, when interacting said the setting up of the club in Sandakan was a testimony that the people in the country, including the people of Sabah, are confident with the 1Malaysia concept and the transformation agenda of the country.

He said the club can become a bridge for communication between him (Najib) and the people in Sabah to understand the feelings and expectation of the people towards the Government.

“Thank you for your confidence and support. I believe we can use this line of communication to exchange ideas and to make comments from time to time.

“I feel this is a very positive development because this will create not only good communication but also interpersonal relationship between all of you and the governor,” he said.

Najib said he hoped the trust of the people towards the Government would continue with the commitment of the Government to establish transformation as the main agenda of the country.

“We believe we are a strong government that can lead the country towards fulfilling the vision of becoming a developed nation. Malaysians are our responsibility and we must strive to promote harmony and stability among the various ethnics in Malaysia,” he said.

Najib said 1Malaysia was not just a slogan but rather an overarching philosophy to the principle of the nation, including policies and transformation agendas.

“1Malaysia is about forming, unity and harmony…it is based on fairness, inclusive and moderation…all that are part and parcel of the 1Malaysia philosophy.

“1Malaysia will be our overarching philosophy and with your support this nation will transform to be the first red nation and a nation that we can all be proud of,” he said. – Bernama

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The lowest of the apartheid accepting ‘slaves’ KTK par excellence have just confirmed their pariah status. Good job Najib! You’v helped identify which Chinese and which Chinese families are no longer Chinese! Those that are lower than the MCA bunch here will not even be MCA members but who join out of sheer cluelessness. Say ‘Massa’ or ‘Tuan’ yer Goreans! How masochistic and unaware of equality can overseas (Malaysian) Chinese get!

Umno’s much-touted 66th general assembly ended with a whimper, its cries of being able to snatch two-thirds of the seats in Parliament downed by missiles that emanated from its own base boomeranging badly on its top leader – the scandal-plagued and embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Despite acknowledging that Umno’s notorious corruption was its own worst enemy, Najib failed to speak up against graft, introduce serious pre-emptive reforms or to even promise a new horizon where transparency would be the rule and not the exception.

His political rivals were not surprised, attributing this in large part due to at least 3 major pieces of shocking news that erupted just days before the Umno assembly started.

“What is there to say. It is so clear Umno cannot change. Its leaders can order the mainstream media, the TV and newspapers to black out the news. They can shout at how confident they are to win the 13th general election but Umno delegates and members have that sinking feeling in their hearts,” PAS MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Inwardly, many grassroots are disappointed and disgusted by the dishonesty and corruption of their leaders but they won’t do much because this is the nature of Umno. It has always been. Those who can’t stand it will leave, those who stay will hang on and hope for a piece of the gravy train even though they know it is corrupt.”

TRIPLE bombshells, more to come?

The first news break that shocked the country came from French lawyers, who revealed that the investigative judges hearing the RM7.3bil Scorpene case in Paris had decided that, contrary to the Malaysian government’s claims, murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was involved in Putrajaya’s acquisition of submarinnes from naval giant DCNS and would be requesting for full records of her murder trial.

This news set tongues wagging as Umno members thronged the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur where their annual congress was held. Perhaps the news reverberated all the more because Najib had foolishly refused to allow the French lawyers to come to Malaysia to brief Members of Parliament on the latest status of case, thereby increasing the suspicion against himself and his wife Rosmah Mansor, both of whom have been accused of involvement and whose former bodyguards were sentenced to hang for the murder.

Next were the twin bombshells dropped by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan, a former close friend of Rosmah’s. According to Deepak, the first couple enlisted his help in overturning a statutory declaration that implicated them in the Altantuya murder. The news sparked calls for a re-opening of the Altantuya murder trial which has been questioned for its ‘quality’ of justice, with the court accused of ignoring evidence that the bodyguards may have been merely the hired killers and that the people who gave the order to murder still at large.

As if that were not enough and Umno members were not already reeling at the alleged misdeeds of their president and his wife, Deepak went on to accuse a “member of Najib’s family” of taking millions of ringgit for his approving the RM100 Puspahanas project, a research centre commissioned by the Ministry of Defense which despite being privatized in 2005 remains only about 20% built today.

“Umno’s ‘war’ 66th General Assembly has ended with UMNO leaders confident and euphoric, with the Umno Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and other Umno leaders declaring that Umno will not only triumph in the next general elections, but will win back the two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as all the four Pakatan states including Kelantan and Penang,” DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.

“However, ‘Man proposes, God disposes’. Although the just-concluded Assembly was painstakingly choreographed and orchestrated, with a lot of do’s and don’t’s for those who spoke at the four-day Umno Assemblies to optimise Umno’s appeal in the 13GE, the ineluctable conclusion of rational and thinking Malaysians is that despite all the talk of “transformation”, Umno leaders and Umno are incapable of change so long as Umno remains corrupted in the corridors of power.

“Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the 44 months of Najib premiership have shown that Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.

“This is why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman, successfuly performing the “disappearance” act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million “political donation to Sabah UMNO” which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.

“Also most disturbing is the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister’s family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Haunting Najib at the 66th UMNO General Assembly was the ghost of Altantuya Shaariibuu. Why couldn’t Altantuya’s ghost be appeased?”

Even the UMNO Malays might concede on the above 3 items than let Pakatan win.

UMNO will be torn apart after the Judiciary is replaced by Pakatan cronies. we all know how Malaysia works (too many legal beagles too few legal eagles), and the people might be displeased enough with UMNO too that Pakatan need not even ‘do the dirty work’, many terrible things probably happened by some faction’s hands in the past and who knows the aggrieved are just waiting for BN to be politically destroyed . .

BN REALLY should use the mandate to grant the above 3 items, that way at least they MIGHT have some places to run to avoid those they have hurt since independence or may yet turn the 40%+ minority and possibly majority of Malays to their side again. The above 3 items are rightful Human Rights, why risk losses in GE13 by not granting something so basic? Is racism and greed so much fun that GE13 is worth losing? For all the faults the article above points at, the chance to win is still there, IF Pakatan does not confirm the above 3 items and BN grants the above 3 items BEFORE GE13. As they say, ain’t over till over . . . but so long as BN does not use the mandate to grant the 3 items, BN with a record of abuses and failures and racism will indeed fail.

ARTICLE 20

THINK NAJIB! If you can’t even sort out Dr M or reform Umno, HOW CAN YOU RULE M’SIA? – Hornbill Unleashed – Martin Jalleh – December 10, 2012

The General Elections beckons and it looks as though the Prime Minister (PM) has gone berserk. He is making comments most bizarre! He blurts out statements beyond human logic!

Soon after the last General Elections he had warned his political party that either it changes or the government that it so dominates will be changed by the people.

He now surprisingly admits that Umno needs to change (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012). In other words, his party has not changed – which in fact clearly contradicts what he and his cohorts have been saying!

For instance the Sun Daily reported on 1 Dec. 2012: Following up on his apology for Umno’s past wrongdoings, at the opening of the party’s 66th general assembly…Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today closed the annual event by exuding optimism that the people’s confidence for Umno is well on recovery mode.

“There is such tremendous response,” he told a euphoric crowd of delegates who seemed charged-up to defend the party’s hold over Malaysia in the upcoming general election.

“Not just from the Malay people…. The non-Malays also see Umno more positively than in the earlier times.

“They see that with each passing day, Umno is recovering even more… With each passing day, they see that Umno is qualified even more, to rule this country.

“We have shown that we are capable to remedy our condition. We are closing ranks and displaying an extraordinary spirit,” he said in his presidential speech at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

“Indicating to the party faithful – and voters at large – that Umno has indeed transformed and improved from what it was in the 2008 general election when the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it led lost four states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament, he proceeded to dish out warnings at those in the party who may hamper it in the next election.”

Mandate from the people to reform Umno? But what if Umno still resists after Najib gets the mandate?

First you say Umno has changed. Yet in your latest comment you admit that it has not changed! Alas dear Mr PM are you not being a chameleon which you so often accuse Anwar Ibrahim of?

What is most preposterous is that Najib says “he needs a mandate from voters in order to reform Umno” (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)!

“If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?” he told the Malay Mail in an interview published recently.

The Malaysian Insider commented: “Reforming Umno has proven to be a monumental task despite the party’s and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) flagging popularity, particularly in urban areas.

“The Umno president has been pushing a reform agenda which included the repeal of security laws considered draconian and the push for a more multi-racial agenda.

“But conservative forces within the party, especially those linked with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have resisted change and have pushed a more Malay-centric platform.

“Mindful of Dr Mahathir’s continued influence, Najib has been careful not to alienate the former PM who had contributed to BN’s worst electoral performance in Election 2008 when he campaigned against the administration of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“But ahead of key national elections due next year, Prime Minister Najib said he was pleading for voters to grant him the mandate to continue his reform policies that can spur Malaysia forward for the greater good even as he acknowledges his party and the ruling BN coalition’s sluggishness towards change. (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)

“With this mandate, a strong mandate from the people, I will deliver what I promised. This is not just about GE13, it’s about transforming the nation and I’m committed to it.”

Don’t be over-ambitious, Najib: Sort out Dr M first before you seek to rule the WHOLE nation

Why don’t you try to change your own party before you try to transform the whole nation, Mr PM?

“If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?”

The mandate given by the people (the electorate) in the General Elections is to transform the country and not to reform your party! That’s Umno’s and your job!

Please get the mandate from your own party members to reform your own party! It appears that either you have failed to get the mandate from Umno members to change the party or in spite of the support given to you, you have failed to reform it.

And since you have failed to reform Umno, the party will be an obstacle to your plans to transform the country. It would not make any sense for you to continue as Umno president and as the PM.

And if you cannot even change your own party are we to expect that you are going to bring about change in the country?

Alas, perhaps it is time to change the president of Umno and the Prime Minister of this country!

MAILBAG

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Shut up Jalleh! I like what Najib is saying here IF thats sincere (doubtful but we’d never know but so long as the below 3 items are actually concretised, the voters couldn’t care less and will give PM Najib a second term) and relates to the below 3 items. What is Jalleh doing? Trying to goad Najib into the arms of those racists being berated? If BN grants :

;even the Chinese would vote BN over Pakatan which has never made clear on the above. Of course BN would be unlikely to grant the above given the number of racists, but Najib is indeed thinking and should not be hammered. Are you an UMNO disinfo agent Jalleh? Or just angry in a way that your articles are skewed in a manner that makes impossible the above 3 items?

Najib asked voters to give BN more time to execute the changes it has planned for the country. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ? Again calling for change in Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today voters are choosing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because they want to send a message to the ruling coalition.

“The message is for us to change as a party,” the BN chairman said while launching the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) annual general meeting (AGM) here.

“They want BN as a party to be more fair, inclusive, and so that every citizen of Malaysia will receive equal treatment and benefits from BN.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas’s address, in which the latter said voters are flocking to PR because they are “worried” by perceived discrimination and prejudice under BN’s rule.

Fresh from closing Umno’s annual assembly here yesterday, Najib again called on voters to give BN more time to renew itself by supporting it in the polls.

“We’re in the process of renewal. Real changes are taking place in Malaysia.

“Real changes are taking place while the same party is in power in Malaysia,” the Umno president said.

Najib also criticised the “Ubah” (change) slogan touted by DAP and PR, comparing their call for change to the recent “Arab Spring” revolution.

“If we change, are we sure we’re getting something better?

“(The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the ‘spring weather’. They’re still in the winter of discontent,” Najib said.

The prime minister said that the revolutions in the Middle East had caused the countries involved to lose out on tourism and currency exchange, as well as suffer declines to their security.

But Najib also confessed that winning the next general election will not be easy, saying that voters’ opinions were now easily swayed by current issues.

“Before this, we can just put a songkok (to contest) and we would still win.

“Now we need to read the desires of the public, understand the wishes of the people.”

Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

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Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground. “These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

Politics should be about honesty, and civilisational Islam (or other religion) is not crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen or camera (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we’d be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion or cult of personality (which harms the accuracy of content via sheer pathos via inverse civility). Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the ‘needs basis’ is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender ‘quotas’, which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, the minorities, or men in general. Let the best people lead and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. Finally, a first world ‘Meritocracy’ of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority) must include :

KOTA BARU: The 17-year-old teenager, who was issued a summons for allegedly giving his girlfriend a “piggy-back ride” at a public park, is upset and embarrassed following the incident.

The teenager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had a tough time explaining to his mother that he was innocent and that he and his 15-year-old girlfriend did nothing indecent.

The teenager was given the summons for allegedly “piggy-backing” his girlfriend while jogging at Taman Tunku Anis at about 5.30pm on Oct 20.

“The incident was traumatic for me and my girlfriend because although I am not an expert in council by-laws, I think what I did was merely having fun with my girlfriend. It was far from an offence.

“We were just fooling around in broad daylight like any other teenager but the officer who approached us said it was improper for us to act like that in public.

“He continued giving us a lecture on morality and when I thought that we would be let off with a warning, he issued us with the summons,” he said yesterday adding that he was now in Kuala Lumpur after completing his SPM examinations.

Summonses had also been issued to two non-Muslim men were for allegedly embracing each other when they were found in a car parked near the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport at midnight on Oct 31. Both have denied the allegations.

The action against the four led to an outcry by various groups which likened it to imposing the Syariah law of close proximity or “khalwat” on non-Muslims.

The teenager also claimed he had argued with the officer as it was unfair to penalise someone when a verbal warning would suffice.

“When I got home that day, I showed the summons to my mother.

“She was very upset at first but when she saw the nature of the offence written in the summons, she believed that I had done nothing wrong.

“My mother thinks I should not have been issued with the summons and that is why she has brought up the matter with lawyers to ask their opinion on the matter,” he added.

He said the news about the incident spread and many assumed that he was involved in “hanky-panky business” with his girlfriend.

“All my friends wanted to know what happened in the park. But when I told them that my girlfriend was merely on my back, they did not believe me and after seeing the summons, my friends will now think twice about hanging out with their girlfriends anywhere.

“They are now afraid to even go to the park with their girlfriends,” she added.

He said he had been under some stress during the SPM examinations because of the incident.

“But I believe I did okay because my conscience is clear and my family is with me,” he said.

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Let all Malaysians vote only for MPs who believe in dropping the entire Syariah Court system in favour of the civil court system. Also :

Trafficking class for men using prostitutes – August 13th, 2012 – 09:26 AM ET By Richard Roth and Patrick Feeeney

CNN – More than 25 men sit in an attorney’s office – each was arrested for prostitution-related offences and each is now trying to avoid jail.

But this is not a defense lawyer’s office. It’s the Brooklyn district attorney’s office and the road away from jail is a lesson in the risks of using prostitutes – Johns School.

Assistant District Attorney Grace Brainard tells them: “The crimes you were arrested for would lead to one penalty and one penalty only and that is jail time. And the next time you are arrested for prostitution, jail time will be the only offer on the table.”

The men were arrested for attempting to pay for sex from undercover policewomen posing as prostitutes on the streets of New York. Men who solicit prostitutes are so-called ‘johns’ and this gathering is known as Johns School.

It’s a program that teaches the dangers and penalties of prostitution and sex trafficking. It’s been going on for the past 10 years under the official name of Project Respect conducted by the Kings County (Brooklyn), NY District Attorney’s office.

Because of their clean record of no previous arrests, the men were given the opportunity to take the three-hour plus course – which cost them more than $300 – and avoid time behind bars. They could have had their day in court but risk of jail time was of great concern.

Rhonnie Jaus, the chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau, said the class attempts to sensitize and educate the men on the dangers of prostitution to both the John and the prostitute.

“You think you’re having sex with an adult, and it turns out it could be something quite different,” Jaus said, “It could be a trafficked child brought from China, brought from South America, so there are many different ramifications of this crime.”

Brainard emphasized that most girls enter prostitution between the ages of 11 and 14. “They were children when they entered this life,” she said.

The men also listened to a lecture from Rosetta Menifee, a former prostitute who had contracted HIV.

“Obviously the goal is not for them (the johns) to do it again,” Menifee said, “but the reality is a lot of them will, so the goal is really to talk about what the risks are so that the have the knowledge of it from different perspectives, and hopefully they’ll make better choices.”

Different speakers pointed out the different risks inherent with solicitation.

Grace Pabarue, a public health educator at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, highlighted sexually transmitted diseases in a photo slideshow.

Former NYPD Lieutenant Jeff Anderson said a prostitute could be a potential threat to a John. “Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some of them abuse drugs,” Anderson said. “Many prostitutes can defend themselves, many prostitutes have defended themselves.”

One of the johns who wanted only to be identified as ‘Skeeter,’ said the course showed him different perspectives about the women forced to work in prostitution.

“Some of them have drug habits, maybe some of them work for pimps,” Skeeter said. “I wouldn’t feel good knowing that I’m paying that money, and it’s going to further keep someone so they’re enslaved.”

Prosecutor Jaus said that the sessions also help develop sex trafficking cases and can encourage johns to help prostitutes escape their situation.

“We’ve had a few cases in which the John actually brought the prostitute, who told him about the fact that she was being trafficked, to the police station,” Jaus said.

“He didn’t go in with the young woman, but he dropped her off because she was crying and told him, “look, I’ve been trafficked.””

Brainard told the johns they should report any case of sex trafficking they witness, even if they were soliciting at the time.

“Taking that step to get law enforcement involved does not mean you have to report it yourself,” Brainard said. “In fact, you don’t even have to give your name.”

At the end of the session the johns are given an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal. If they avoid arrest over the following six months, the arrest is wiped off their record.

Despite Menifee’s fear that many will continue using prostitutes, Jaus said the course, which started in 2002, has seen a success rate of more than 90 percent. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve had over 3,000 attendees of the John School,” Jaus said.

“So we’ve only had 26 people rearrested in Brooklyn for patronizing, who have gone through the John school.”

None of the other boroughs of New York offer such an alternative.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“Obviously the goal is not for them (the johns) to do it again,” . . .

Excuse me, what Johns do with consenting adults of either or indeterminate gender is their own business, and the sex workers who make their own choices as well. This article entirely ignores the issue of consensual prostitutes and nominally illegalizes (quasi moralist-fundo style) the act of buying or selling sexual companionship. Could someone from PONY or SWOP or a relevant advocacy group please communicate with CNN on this unwanted borderline demogoguery? Other than that, the article is well and good, especially the part where Johns should report trafficked women and even drop such victims off at the police station.

But CNN forgets the consensual and Red Light District workers who are there by choice, or even preference and even makes sex workers into potential psychos with all that ‘defending themselves‘ or ‘disturbed‘ or ‘potential threat‘ language. A John is going to have abit of relaxation then be off on their way, just like from caveman times, nothing new here, nothing to make laws around or be woo-woo about. Let feminazi, alpha john, LGBT or good family have their spaces, there will however by no spaces for ‘proselytize into oblivion’ fundo-idealogical types trying to destroy spaces for any specific group.

ARTICLE 2

Prostitution should be legalized in Malaysia – Friday, August 6, 2010

The Star of August 6, 2010 highlighted on its front page the case of a van driver in Petaling Jaya accused of raping two minors. Why didn’t he satisfy his lust in a cheap brothel in Kuala Lumpur’s red-light districts such as Lorong Haji Taib or Brickfields? Simply because there are no more cheap brothels left for him to patronize! (A van driver can’t afford a RM200 full-service package in a high-class spa, can he?). Depending on which side of the fence you are on, it’s either thanks or no thanks to the efforts of our police. However, it has been postulated that the non-availability of sex workers to men who can’t control their desires is a contributing factor to rape. (I prefer to refer to prostitutes as sex-workers because they perform a service).

According to a website (http://prostitution.procon.org), prostitution is legal in 50 countries, enjoys limited legality in 10 countries, and is illegal in 40 other countries. Every men worth his testosterone knows the nearest sex haven is across the Causeway in Singapore’s Geylang district. If a country that bans chewing gum can permit prostitution and legal brothel ownership, something must be good to it. Of course, I’m referring to voluntary prostitution by adults, not forced prostitution or trafficked women. Just compare the number of sex crimes in Singapore as a percentage of its population to the same statistic for Malaysia.

In fact, empirical evidence has established the correlation between the lack of brothels and high number of rape cases in the following studies:

–Kirby R. Cundiff, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance at Northeastern State University in his working paper entitled “Prostitution and Sex Crimes” submitted to Independent Institute on Apr. 8, 2004, wrote: “It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year…. The analysis seems to support the hypothesis that the rape rate could be lowered if prostitution was more readily available. This would be accomplished in most countries by its legalization.”

–R.N. Barber’s article entitled “Prostitution and Increasing Number of Convictions for Rape in Queensland” (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. 1969 (vol. 2 issue 3) stated: “A study conducted in Queensland… show[ed] a 149% increase in the rate of rape when legal brothels were closed in 1959, while other offenses against the person by males increased only 49%.”

So, my point is that sex workers perform a role in society by allowing men and women to relieve themselves of sexual tension and desire. Without this biological urge, given by God, humans would have become extinct long ago. Therefore, prostitution should be legalized in Malaysia and strictly regulated, of course.

If Turkey, which has a 99% Muslim population, can legalize prostitution, why not our country? Also, according to the Coalition Against Traficking in Women, Indonesia, another Muslim-majority country, has “localised bordello complexes, or ‘localisasi’ managed under local government regulations”. (http://www.catwinternational.org)

Sex website http://longpenisworld.com stated: “Though prostitution is technically illegal in Indonesia, the government continues to run and operate the Kramat Tunggak, a red-light district in North Jakarta. The largest in the world, the district spans 28 acres, with more than 220 brothels populated by between 1,000 to 2,000 girls.”

Another point is that so much attention is focused on female prostitution that male sex-workers are often overlooked in terms of arrests. For instance, why are female sex-workers always targetted in anti-vice raids? Have we ever read news of gigolos being caught by our anti-vice police? Yes, but seldom. (Even so, our mainstream newspapers don’t bother to show pictures of the arrested male sex-workers but pictures of female sex workers are often splashed prominently in prime pages.)

The scores of male sex-workers in our gay massage parlours, spas and gyms are often left alone to enjoy their sodomy in bliss, not to mention the straight studs servicing ageing widows, divorcees, old spinsters and bored housewives with impotent husbands. (A Google search will hook up several Kuala Lumpur-based agencies offering male escorts).

Industry sources have told me stories of policemen posing as customers to visit brothels and nabbing female sex-workers. If the law is to be imposed across genders, shouldn’t policemen also pose as customers in gay massage parlours to nab male sex-workers? Maybe catching male prostitutes is not fun enough for our he-man cops?

Also, why aren’t our policewomen pretending to be customers of masseurs-cum-gigolos and arresting them when they offer sex?

Gender equality should also extend to the way sex-workers are handled by the police.

Definitely an alpha minded type writer, ladies look no further for an example of alpha minded MALE, (guys – here’s that role model missing from society or your henpecked home conditions), though does not look particularly alpha, (well maybe was much bigger/muscular/hairier when younger . . . ) all Ewe needs is to have a music production business on the side and to put on that shiny suit, give Dr. Detroit a run for the money . . . Ah the era of wine, women and song for non-Muslims in Malaysia can begin if alpha males finally legislate legalized RLDs or adult (film) industry . . . run for candidacy in the informal RLD districts in Malaysia, the syndicates would be glad to become legal and have access to legal workers with the adult patrons having access to legal workers as well as the sex workers possibly being able to demand a pension plan as well, instead of running around playing catch with the cops.

Ewe Paik Leong is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer and editor. He has held editorial positions in publications ranging in subjects from lifestyle, travel, business, building, healthcare and medical to motoring. Ewe is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, Diamond Bar, CA, USA. All articles are original and cannot be reproduced without his written permission.

ARTICLE 3

Lady Gaga rushed by fan, fires back at PETA over furs: Footage released – August 17, 2012 – by : Bryan Bard

Lady Gaga comes to Kim’s defense, tells PETA and the world she thinks she’s fabulous.

Lady Gaga is currently touring Romania, and the fur is flying. Yesterday the “Born this Way” diva issued a pointed response to the commotion over her suspected fur wearing. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has lashed out at Gaga for appearing in public sporting what appear to be real animal furs. And amid all of this controversy came an aggressive fan who got an up close view of the business end of Lady Gaga’s body guard.

Celebrity-Gossip.net is reporting that upon arriving at her hotel in Bucharest yesterday and greeting fans, one overzealous photographer attempted to shoot up Gaga’s skirt. This was met with a swift response from her security team who seized the camera. Later as Lady Gaga was exiting, another commotion erupted when what appears to be an overanxious fan rushed the “Bad Romance” singer for an autograph and was met with a quick smack down by a bodyguard. Watch the video here as posted by Eonline to see it as it happened.
Lady Gaga bodyguard slaps down fan

Earlier in the week, PETA attacked Mother Monster and called her a “turncoat” for appearing in public with various furs, and demanded to know whether any were real. Typical of our Gaga, she released a statement defending her right to do and wear what she wants, as reported by The Hollywood Gossip. PETA claims Gaga has said in the past that she hates fur and doesn’t wear it. It’s unclear whether she’s referring to real fur or just fur in general. In either case, the 26 year-old artist is not backing down to pressure from the organization nor some of her angered fans.

Lady Gaga’s statement in part says, “I want you to know that I care deeply about your feelings and views, and I will always support your philosophies about life”. She continues, “I do not however support violent, abusive, and childish campaigns for ANY CAUSE. Particularly one that I respect. ‘Animal Rights’….I respect your views, please respect mine”. In between Gaga laments her other animal kingdom fashion-inspired outfits, never explicitly acknowledging whether any of it is authentic or not.

Gaga does make one particularly interesting direct reference to her infamous awards show meat dress. And it does seem odd to hold someone accountable for sporting an animal pelt when they’ve appeared in public wearing animal flesh. It would be an understatement to say that Gaga sees the artistic value in everything. Have you ever gotten past the outrageous costumes and listened to her songs? “You see a carcass, I see a museum piece de resistance”, she wrote.

Lady Gaga closed out her well thought out diatribe by addressing the recent flour bombing of Kim Kardashian by supposed PETA members. “And to campaigners, Save your flour to make bread for the children who are hungry. And Kim Kardashian is fabulous”, Gaga said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“I do not however support violent, abusive, and childish campaigns for ANY CAUSE.” said Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotti aka Lady Gaga.

Oh yeah? USA and the freedom of humanity by attempting to remove bad politicians or the TSA, if considered childish (moi prefers childlike in descripts of campaigns, and selfishness especially when one has so much, is most cynically adult) or abusive to campaign for, would only make this 1%ter part of the problem. The only way Evil can win is if Good does not act. So by not acting, guess what Evil any 1% entertainer is allowing to happen . . . by ignoring the starving, those needing policy change, stuck in prisons for non-crimes (that a governor could pardon or influence placement of pro-active judges who could overturn judgments by), needing younger politicians in power, when one has as much (though likely waning after this post) popularity and money as this that is put to no good end, one has already done violence by letting the abuse to the 99%ters occur without helping the 99% even as the 99% had bought tickets and albums etc.. to enable action by 1% plutocrat actors and musos. Is this childish?

Or will 1% plutocrat entertainers continue neglecting the fact that the 99% made them and now are suffering, need this 1% plutocrat to act for them now? Every ticket or album bought comes with a price and the spiritual debt is now upon those who due to the collective resources of so many can act but do not . . . despots like people who concur all the time, by saying this and thinking this way, 1% plutocrat entertainers will be now differentiate those who are followers or potential friends . . . shall the world divest from those who fail to return what was given rather than earned? A record or ticket does not sell itself and is not a one off thing either.

Field an ENTIRE ‘Freedom Party’ who will legalise pot and free all prisoners of pot related charges if TSA seems too much for ‘Gaga’ Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotti, set a precedent for action or set a precedent for plutocratic entertainer divestment . . . THAT would be ‘monster-worthy’. A 3rd Force political coalition instead of the hegelian dialectic. A monster would take on the creeps and retards running the government because monsters also hunger for power . . . prancing around naked with lights and props is NOT so monstrous as making a run for Governorship to implement REAL laws, abolish REAL laws or pardon non-crimes . . . oh and that ‘fan‘ who was ‘bashed’ by the guard . . . unless staged on purpose to create ‘drama’, this looks like an undue force amounting to Aggravated Assault case involving security at least, would ‘fan’ like to consult a lawyer if being hit in that manner was legal? How about something sexier where the fur wearing people get their furry clothes ripped off by fundos among PETA?

A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is set to launch a media campaign, including TV ads, that scolds President Barack Obama for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and argues that high-level leaks are endangering American lives.

Leaders of the group, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, say it is nonpartisan and unconnected to any political party or presidential campaign. It is registered as a so-called social welfare group, which means its primary purpose is to further the common good and its political activities should be secondary.

In the past, military exploits have been turned against presidential candidates by outside groups, most famously the Swift Boat ads in 2004 that questioned Democratic nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam War service.

The OPSEC group says it is not political and aims to save American lives. Its first public salvo is a 22-minute film that includes criticism of Obama and his administration. The film, to be released on Wednesday, was seen in advance by Reuters.

“Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not,” Ben Smith, identified as a Navy SEAL, says in the film.

“As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy,” Smith continues. “It will get Americans killed.”

An Obama campaign official said: “No one in this group is in a position to speak with any authority on these issues and on what impact these leaks might have, and it’s clear they’ve resorted to making things up for purely political reasons.”

Obama has highlighted his foreign policy record on the campaign trail, emphasizing how he presided over the killing of bin Laden, as well as how he ended the war in Iraq and set a timeline for winding down the war in Afghanistan.

However, Obama has come under sharp attack from Republican lawmakers who have accused his administration of being behind high-level leaks of classified information.

They have pointed to media reports about clandestine drone attacks, informants planted in al Qaeda affiliates and alleged cyber-warfare against Iran that Republicans say were calculated to promote Obama’s image as a strong leader in an election year.

The White House has denied leaking classified information.

The president of Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, Scott Taylor, is a former Navy SEAL who in 2010 ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for a congressional seat in Virginia.

Calling itself “OPSEC” for short – which in spy jargon means “operational security” – the anti-leak group incorporated last June in Delaware, a state that has the most secretive corporate registration rules in the U.S.

It also set itself up as a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)4 of the U.S. Tax Code, allowing it to keep donors’ identities secret. Spokesmen for the group declined to discuss its sources of financing.

Several group representatives say their main motivation for setting up OPSEC was dismay at recent detailed media leaks about sensitive operations.

In an interview, Taylor denied OPSEC had any political slant. He described the group as a “watchdog organization” but added that the current administration “has certainly leaked more than others.”

OPSEC spokesmen said the group has about $1 million at its disposal and hopes to raise more after the release of its mini-documentary, entitled “Dishonorable Disclosures,” which aims, in spy-movie style, to document a recent spate of leaks regarding sensitive intelligence and military operations.

Following the film’s release, OPSEC’s spokesmen said, the group expects to produce TV spots on the anti-leak theme that will air in a number of states, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Nevada – key battleground states.

Fred Rustmann, a former undercover case officer for the CIA who is a spokesman for the group, insisted its focus on leaks was “not a partisan concern.” But he said the current administration had been leaking secrets “to help this guy get re-elected, at the expense of peoples’ lives…. We want to see that they don’t do this again.”

Chad Kolton, a former spokesman for the office of Director of National Intelligence during the George W. Bush administration who now represents OPSEC, also said the group’s message and make-up are nonpolitical.

“You’ll see throughout the film that concern about protecting the lives of intelligence and Special Forces officers takes precedence over partisanship,” he said.

Responding to criticism about the president taking credit for the bin Laden raid, an Obama campaign official pointed to an interview with CNN last month in which Admiral Bill McRaven, commander of the raid, said: “At the end of the day, make no mistake about it, it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions, that was instrumental in the planning process, because I pitched every plan to him.”

“I think Admiral McRaven knows more about the President’s role in the bin Laden operation than this group,” the campaign official said.

Thats is why term limits are needed. So that the office cannot be used to protect this sort of credit claiming. Would a black or latino female president or Ameri-Red-Indian male be suitable for USA in the next election? Would give a strong message to the militant Islamists that USA is not all WASP and that the citizens are not all colonial occupiers but victims of the same.

Joe Publics of the above 3 types of President selections with enough resources to at least launch internet campaigns, you ready to run for President? Romney is worth 250 million, Maria Carey is worth 225 million, how about running for Governor at least? Oprah is worth 2.7 billion 10 times that of Romney, Madonna is worth 500 million 2 times that if Romney, how about running for Governor at least if not President divas? Beyonce’s networth as of February 2010 is $461 million & Jay Z’s net worth as of January 2010 is $785million, Snoop Lion’s worth 110 million still enough to at least take a Congressman’s or Mayor’s seat if wealth is to be a yardstick of what one can do. On the wealth distribution, if at very least not unused LAND distribution for the homeless and jobless at least? If Arnold Schwarzeneggar (terminated California policy for 9 years, not so good), could take up politics, why is the latino or black entertainer so shy? USA needs a new governance paradigm or USA is going down . . . Hollywood included . . .

If these people are so proud of ethnicity or gender equality have the media infrastructure, want to prove themselves so much, then run for the above posts and GTFO of Congress after 2 terms! USA’s 99?% need these policies that the mainstream term limitless do not want to implement! All that is needed to evil to triumph is for good to do nothing . . .

The DeKalb County medical examiner says a woman found dead in her home was killed by at least one of her five dogs.

Twenty-three-year-old Rebecca Carey spent her life rescuing animals, taking several into her home to keep them from ending up at animal control.

Carey’s best friend, Jackie Cira, went to Carey’s home when she did not show up for work on Sunday.

“There was a lot of blood,” Cira said. “And when first got there, it looked like she had fallen and hit her head.”

The DeKalb County medical examiner ruled Carey’s death was the result of dog bites.

Animal control took custody of the five dogs in the home – two pit bulls, two presas and a boxer mix.

Any dog that has bitten a person goes into a special isolation lockup at animal control.

Cira said she knows Carey’s dogs, and actually owned one of them, a therapy dog, at one time.

“Any dog she came into contact with, she brought out the best in,” Cira said.

Cira said she wanted the dogs she knew to be gentle to be spared punishment.

“I don’t know who did what, but I can say with certainty who did not,” Cira said.

Animal control’s interim director Tim Medlin told Channel 2’s Jeff Dore that the county can’t risk putting a killer dog with a family, and they have all been put down.

“We didn’t know which dog did which. I can’t be wrong. Not just myself, no one can be wrong in putting out a dog that possibly had to do with these type of injuries. I will not put another person at that kind of risk,” Medlin said.

Carey’s family declined to speak with Dore, but they issued the following statement:

“Rebecca Carey of Decatur was 23 years old and an avid animal lover. Since the second grade when she read the book Throw Away Pets she vowed to be a voice for all animals. She attended Georgia Perimeter College and worked at a veterinary clinic. Upon placing her first abandoned animal in a permanent loving home in 2003, she volunteered countless hours with rescue networks and animal shelters. There she did what she loved the most: rescuing animals from untenable situations to find them safe, loving homes.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Neurotech warning? For we know our pets well and fine excepting neurotech incursions . . . Don’t be afraid plutocrat entertainers, back up those attitudes with real action not entertainment industry slickness. Is Hollywood ‘in’ with the neurotech use? Guess who Carey is warning if this is even possible. Otherwise disregard this post. That would also confirm that some Hollywood types are just false personaes under the spotlight, but even worse than politicians IRL away from the spotlight. Perhaps this is why some of them are so wealthy and dismissive or neglectful of the 99% who buy their records/products etc. and make them so rich. As mentioned before – wealth distribution is needed (20 million limits?) not 1% domination EVEN by entertainer plutocrats. Making life entertaining is no excuse for sequestration of collective wealth of the nation when people starve or are homeless.

Any able to confirm the above deserve to be the intelligence community or watchdogs of the 99% . . . a really cool star would be cool with most of what is posted here, the ‘closet psycho’ NWO types entertainers for certain would pull something like the above. Don’t say I didn’t warn you AmeriCan’ts, not all ‘Stars’ may be as friendly or entertaining as they seem, and might have access to satellite neurotech if not trying to sequester organic energy exchanges naturally available to others, on the esoteric level there seems to be a spiritual war all around . . .

Lets hope some of these plutocrat entertainers actually act or debunk. USA is fighting a war that USA cannot fund, and when there are no monies for police because soldiers are protecting the USA, fully expect even entertainer plutocrats to be considered part of the problem. We only ask for those the 1% entertainer made so wealthy by buying their records or watching their films to give back by taking out the evil term limitless politicians and remembering to GTFO after 2 terms. After gaining the cash from the film goers, Arnold S. JOINED the 1% (just look at the policy written) . . . now will the rest of the 1% entertainers help the 99% who made the plutocrat (1% entertainer/muso funded by the people of the USA, also world) so wealthy?

A woman may be fined $600 for each day she provided free food to children in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood for the past few months.

Angela Prattis, 41, of Chester Township has been distributing free healthy lunches in a neighborhood that has a per capita income of $19,000 a year.

Prattis made no money from the meal distribution, and gave out food provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The “lunch lady” ran the charity out of her garage, to which about 60 children came, five days a week.

After the city council was alerted of the free lunches, it ruled that she would have to acquire a variance to give away food next summer – or pay a fine of $600 a day. The council considers Prattis’ deed a zoning violation. Three months of distributing food would instigate a fine of more than $50,000.

“It’s not like I’m selling food,” she objected.

“These kids are hungry. I’m not tearing down the community. I’m keeping the children out of harm’s way,” she said in a Fox News interview.

But a variance to distribute food would also be costly. Administrative fees for a variance would cost up to $1,000.

“You have houses here. The roofs are falling in, and they could be focused on a lot more serious issues than me feeding children,” Prattis said in response to the city council’s ruling.

The woman has three children of her own, takes care of a foster child and runs a neighborhood basketball program .

The township intitally threatened Prattis with fines for this summer’s food distribution, but withdrew them after news organizations began asking questions. Now, the township is allowing the woman to keep distributing food cost-free until August 24 – but next summer will be a lot more costly. Prattis told local news crews that she will continue helping her community.

“Tell me this program isn’t needed,” she said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Whats the back story behind this? Neurosuppressive drugs distributed by the Church into the food to control children? With enforcement taking the fall to keep the Church looking good?

ARTICLE 7

How America Can Slow Israel’s March to War – by DENNIS B. ROSS – Published: August 17, 2012 Washington

For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.

OBAMA administration officials have made it clear that they believe there is still time and space for diplomatic efforts to succeed in stopping Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability. But Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, has said it is time to declare that “diplomacy has failed.”

While Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not yet declared the failure of diplomacy, he has spoken about its inability to alter the course of Iran’s nuclear program. In addition, he has told his cabinet that the nuclear threat from Iran dwarfs all the other threats Israel faces and pointedly added, “Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons.”

The words of Israeli leaders are signaling not just increasing impatience with the pace of diplomacy but also Israel’s growing readiness to act militarily on its own against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Although the United States and Israel share the same objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability, the two differ on the point at which it may become necessary to act militarily to forestall the Iranian nuclear advance. I say “forestall” because neither America nor Israel can fully destroy the Iranian capability to build a nuclear weapon. Each country could set Iran back militarily, but neither could destroy Iran’s skill or technical and engineering capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Since 2007, when Iran mastered the full nuclear fuel cycle and the means to enrich uranium on its own, it has been too late for that.

Their differences on the possible timing of military action are a function of both capabilities and perspective. The United States has significantly greater military might than Israel and therefore feels that it can wait substantially longer than Israel before resorting to force.

Israel is less patient. As Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said, Iran is rapidly approaching the moment when the depth, breadth and hardening of its multiple nuclear facilities would produce a “zone of immunity” in which an Israeli military strike would lose its effectiveness. Mr. Barak believes that Israel must act before that moment.

But the issue for the United States is not only about military capacity. It is also about having a strategy for the aftermath of any strike on Iran. Because force could not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability, military action must be seen as a means and not an end. And it must be employed in a way that would contribute to the objective of setting back the Iranian nuclear program so that Iran is both less able and less willing to reconstitute it. At a minimum, that would require keeping Iran isolated and under severe economic sanctions after its nuclear facilities had been attacked.

Israel surely recognizes the importance of having a post-strike strategy that could succeed in keeping Iran isolated. But, perhaps because Israeli leaders find it difficult to surrender the military option while still facing what they perceive as an existential threat, they tend to believe that Tehran’s behavior will produce a unified international position against Iran, even after a military strike.

In the words of one senior Israeli official: “The sanctions regime may be hurt for a time, but afterward it will recover, as will the diplomatic pressure on Iran, as will the intelligence battle against Iran. This is because the basic interests of the international community regarding Iran will not change.”

The perspective of the Obama administration is different. From its standpoint, the isolation of Iran did not just happen on its own. It took considerable effort to persuade and mobilize the international community to impose crippling sanctions.

For the United States, this context matters. America thinks in terms of shaping an international environment so that if force becomes necessary it can be justified because diplomacy has been demonstrably exhausted and Iran, by stubbornly refusing to alter its nuclear program, will appear to have essentially brought war on itself. Preserving Iran’s isolation in the event of a military strike will require denying Iran the ability to present itself as the victim.

In other words, before a military strike, it is essential to demonstrate that Iran was not prepared to accept a civil nuclear power capability with the kind of limitations that would prevent it from being able to produce nuclear weapons on short notice.

Israeli leaders wouldn’t dispute the desirability of showing that diplomacy — and the use of crippling sanctions — had failed to change Iran’s behavior. But Israelis clearly fear that their clock will run out on them and that Israel, in the words of that senior official, “will no longer be a player at that point.”

The key questions for policy makers in Washington today are whether there is a way to extend the clock from an Israeli standpoint and whether it is possible to synchronize the American and Israeli clocks so that we really can exhaust diplomacy and sanctions before resorting to force. Four actions by the United States could make this possible.

First, the United States must put an endgame proposal on the table that would allow Iran to have civil nuclear power but with restrictions that would preclude it from having a breakout nuclear capability — the ability to weaponize its nuclear program rapidly at a time of Tehran’s choosing. Making such a proposal would clarify whether a genuine deal was possible and would convey to Israel that the American approach to negotiations was not open-ended.

Second, America should begin discussions with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany (the so called P5+1) about a “day after” strategy in the event that diplomacy fails and force is used. This would signal to both Israel and Iran that we mean what we say about all options being on the table.

Third, senior American officials should ask Israeli leaders if there are military capabilities we could provide them with — like additional bunker-busting bombs, tankers for refueling aircraft and targeting information — that would extend the clock for them.

And finally, the White House should ask Mr. Netanyahu what sort of support he would need from the United States if he chose to use force — for example, resupply of weapons, munitions, spare parts, military and diplomatic backing, and help in terms of dealing with unexpected contingencies. The United States should be prepared to make firm commitments in all these areas now in return for Israel’s agreement to postpone any attack until next year — a delay that could be used to exhaust diplomatic options and lay the groundwork for military action if diplomacy failed.

Although some may argue that these actions will make a military strike more likely next year, they are almost certainly needed now in order to give Israel’s leaders a reason to wait.

Dennis B. Ross, a former State Department and National Security Council official, was a special assistant to President Obama for the Middle East and South Asia from 2009 to 2011. He is now a counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Israel is less patient but only has a M.A.D. capacity without conventional or sufficient troops to control anything more than a large city at most. Without USA in full force, which will at this point indebt USA into insolvency unless fiat is going to be dropped after the war, there is no way Iran can be taken out AND controlled. Look at Iraq and the USA’s failure to ‘control’ the region. Or even supposedly low tech Afghanistan and Pakistan. USA should turn Iraq into a Japan with a permanent troop presence THEN consider Iran, otherwise no go. If Iran is twice as problematic as Iraq having twice as many citizens, even with USA and Israel in permanent occupation, and likely USA facing retaliatory bullying and even attempts at control by Russia (for the loss of the Soviet Union), Israel will either have to conduct a spiritually damning several decades long pogrom of Iranian citizens (that the USA had no capacity nor stomach nor ability to face the world later for) that would galvanise the entire Middle East region into WW3 and endless terror attacks everywhere . . . the MAD scenario solution is not capacity for combat or capacity for victory, and Iran will most certainly have nuclear weapons even as Pakistan does, yet does not destroy India (and Pakistan also) simply because of the fallout. There are many ways to win a war, and hearts and minds wise Iran is still somewhat crushed and hated, but take the war and occupation method, and Israel signs a death warrant. No country can stop a nation with the size and population of Iran from gaining nukes, Israel must conduct other types of warfare.

If Iran uses the direct conventional method even without Nukes, and Israel lacking manpower will be no more. If USA managed to CONTROL Iraq as colony without issue, PERHAPS, but if USA is unable to pull that off, that means conventional is off the table when 25% of Iran’s population does a ‘Zerg-rush’ on Israel. M.A.D. of course is a world irradiating non-solution that is not victory. Israeli citizens opposing are showing wisdom.

Perhaps Israel can cause insurgencies and rebellions but not use M.A.D. or occupations. Perhaps direct an asteroid at Iran from space at most. False flag an alien invasion with extreme conventional tech. Mind control satellites? 75 million nanomites with cyanide injectibles could work but that would be too obvious but would be as impressive though not as dramatic as air craft carriers in 1940s, and spiritually damning as hell. The future of war looks set to be nanoscale at least until nanoscale cleaners are employable. Doubtless the ‘grey goo’ scenario could create another MAD scenario as well. How about for now those who cannot get along just build a very big wall and not trade or communicate? Much easier and less problematic. Any power which needs to use nukes has already admitted defeat, and will also irradiate the world in the process. Real war needs conventional troops and ability to occupy. Israel has neither and USA should consolidate control in Iraq instead of starting a war with Iran which looks several times tougher than Iraq.

Left-wing Israelis protest in Tel Aviv on August 16, 2012, against Israel mounting a military strike on Iran. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)

Tel Aviv’s bellicose stance against Iran’s nuclear program has sparked a pushback in Israeli society against politicians’ ambitions to strike Iran, with many demanding a peaceful resolution to tensions.

­More than 400 Israelis, including prominent academics, have signed an online petition appealing to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pilots not to obey hypothetical orders to bomb Iran.

The petition was initiated by Vardit Shalfi, a left-wing activist and editor of online magazine The Occupation, who said that there are many public campaigns against a war with Iran, but “none of them appealed to the executive level, the pilots.” The document calls a possible military strike on Iran a “highly mistaken gamble” that would come “at an exorbitant price,” and would not halt Iran’s nuclear program.

“You have the option of saying ‘No,’” the petition addressed to the pilots reads, according to Haaretz. “Certainly, this is not a simple option. It involves profound professional and moral dilemmas, and carries the risk of losing a career which is important to you and also the possibility of being prosecuted. Nevertheless, it is your duty to consider most carefully and seriously the possibility that by saying the little word ‘No,’ you will be rendering an important and vital service to the State of Israel and all who live here. This service would be infinitely more important than blind obedience to this particular order.”

The petition also warns of legal responsibility for the potential consequence of strikes against atomic facilities: “Israel as a country, as well as those carrying out the bombing might be charged with war crimes.”

Law professor Chaim Gans of Tel Aviv University argues that such military action would be illegal, and that “it is clear that the consequences of such a war would be destructive in every possible way.”

Some say that the strike could be legal, but still cause serious blowback. “There is no legal problem with striking Iran,” petitioner and Tel Aviv University law professor Menachem Mautner said, but he warned of the possibility of “very serious and far-reaching consequences” for Israel if it attacks Iran without US backing.

Similar petitions have also been circulated among Israeli society. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak outlining their fears about the consequences of a potential attack: “We will be the ones you will seek out to heal and put together what you have broken. We call on you: Don’t break. First do no harm,” Iranian Press TV reported the letter as saying.
Israel readying for war

Israel seems to be preparing for possible military action. A nationwide missile alert system has been tested this week, and gas mask distribution centers have been created across the country. Contractors have also been hired to fortify hospitals, schools and shelters, the AP reported.

Tel Aviv has engaged in long-running diplomatic appeals to halt or slow Iran’s nuclear program. They insist that Tehran is working to develop nuclear weapons, while the Iranian government claims their program is for civilian purposes.

Tel Aviv has repeatedly warned in the past few months that the window of opportunity for military action is narrowing, claiming that economic sanctions are incapable of stopping Tehran from acquiring the alleged nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have implied that an Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be launched in the fall, before the US presidential election in November.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main goal in this crisis is delaying Tehran’s nuclear program by a few years, even if Israel cannot entirely halt Iran’s nuclear program, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a speech today to the Israeli Parliament that taking action against Iran was “not simple, without risks or unintended consequences … I believe that it is inestimably more complicated, inestimably more dangerous, inestimably more complex, and inestimably more expensive in terms of human life and resources to deal with a nuclear Iran in the future.”

On Sunday, an anonymous senior Israeli politician (believed by the media to be Ehud Barak) said that Israel had already decided to act alone, the National Post reported. “We can’t wait to find out one morning that we relied on the Americans but were fooled because the Americans didn’t act. Israel is strong and Israel is responsible, and will do what it has to do,” the official said.

Tel Aviv has openly stated that it is prepared to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
A history of pre-emptive action

IDF forces carried out similar missions in 1981 and 2007, when they attacked unfinished nuclear reactors in Iraq and Syria.

Israeli President Shimon Peres challenged the prospect of a unilateral, pre-emptive Israeli strike in a televised address, saying that “Now, it’s clear to us that we can’t do it alone. We can delay. It’s clear to us we have to proceed together with America. There are questions about coordination and timing, but as serious as the danger is, this time at least we are not alone.”

Other prominent Israeli politicians also oppose Israel making unilateral strikes. Recently-resigned Kadima leader Tzipi Livni announced in May that Netanyahu is threatening the existence of the Jewish state with its hawkish stance against Iran.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also spoke out against the bellicose rhetoric, saying that “There is no reason at this time not to talk about a military effort, but definitely not to initiate an Israeli military strike.”

Washington has warned Israel on numerous occasions against premature action, insisting that time needs to be allowed for diplomacy and sanctions against Tehran to work. On Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that military action against Tehran should be a “last resort.”

Panetta made some of his strongest comments yet on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions during a visit to Jerusalem earlier this month: “We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Period,” he told reporters.

Only 22 percent of Israelis believe Panetta’s statement, according to an August 8 poll by the Dahaf Institute.

The survey also showed that a majority of Israelis believe that a nuclear Iran would pose a threat to Israel, and most say that Israel needs US assistance to stop Tehran’s nuclear program. Some 61 percent of Israelis believe Iran should not be attacked without consent from the US.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Israel’s barely 8 million of which for certain only 30% or less (children or elderly, non-combat civilians etc..) which are combat ready cannot take on Iran without the USA. If Iran is willing to suffer the pain, Iran could well overrun Israel before the USA gets there. Then the world will have less one aware bulwark against militant Islamists without Israel. If Iran strikes with nukes, Iran will also suffer radioactive fallout. Same with Israel using nukes. The Middles East loses out either way. Israel really should leave Lebanon alone meanwhile and help USA consolidate Iraq.

That was the response Friday from the Romney team after Obama’s campaign manager tried once again to wrench more tax documents from the Republican president candidate, this time by offering to refrain from criticizing Mitt Romney’s transparency if he agrees to release five more years of returns.

“Thanks for the note. It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending,” he wrote. “If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days.”

The Obama campaign offer came after Romney said a day earlier that he’s “never paid less than 13 percent” in taxes over the last 10 years.

Messina, pressing Romney once again for documentation, wrote that he wanted to offer “assurances” to allay Romney’s concerns that releasing additional tax returns would just feed the Democrats’ appetite for more.

“So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point: if the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more — neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign,” Messina wrote.

Messina, notably, did not offer to refrain from criticizing the contents of whatever documents Romney might furnish.

And that’s the kind of criticism Romney has expressed concern about. Speaking on NBC’s “Rock Center,” wife Ann Romney voiced the same reservations. She said, before Messina’s letter was sent out, that releasing more returns would give Democrats more ammunition, and claimed the campaign would not be releasing more.

Mitt Romney tried to clear the air on Thursday over the issue, offering his most expansive answer yet on the topic while speaking to reporters outside a South Carolina airport.

“I did go back and look at my taxes,” Romney said. “And over the past 10 years, I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent year is 13.6 (percent) or something like that.”

Democrats — most notably Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — have hounded him for months over the issue. Reid went so far as to claim on the Senate floor, without offering proof beyond an unnamed source, that Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years, and then challenged Romney to prove him wrong.

Romney says the claim is “totally false.” But Reid and the Obama campaign dug in on their position that it’s Romney’s obligation to prove he paid those taxes — rather than their obligation to prove their charges are true.

Messina wrote in his letter that Romney would “only” have to release three more sets of returns — on top of the 2010 and 2011 returns.

“This request for the release of five years, covering the complete returns for 2007-2012, is surely not unreasonable. Other Presidential candidates have released more, including the Governor’s father who provided 12 years of returns,” he wrote, adding that the campaign is looking for answers on “the range in the effective rates paid, the foreign accounts maintained, the foreign investments made, and the types of tax shelters used.”

He closed: “And, I repeat, the Governor and his campaign can expect in return that we will refrain from questioning whether he has released enough or pressing for more.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Why so shifty? If Romney has nothing to hide, releasing tax forms should not be an issue. How can the voters trust a president who cannot even declare tax forms taxes or even assets? Probably there will be details on the tax forms that will confirm CORRUPTION.

While some people think to pack their toiletries in their checked baggage before heading to the airport just in case TSA counts toothpaste as a forbidden fluid, others are busy cramming spear guns, cannonballs, grenade launchers, venomous snakes and eels into their carry-ons.

According to a year-to-date report issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), all those things and more have been confiscated so far this year at airport security checkpoints across the country. Some travelers “bring some rather shocking items with them to the airport,” the agency stated in the Aug. 14 report.

[Related: Moscow-bound flight makes unscheduled landing after threat]

While screening more than 375 million people since the start of 2012, TSA agents have found 821 firearms, or an average of four guns per day nationwide. Of the total, 691 guns were loaded. One person attempted to get a gun past security by disassembling it and hiding the pieces in separate stuffed animals, while other travelers tried to hide their pistols in a pot plant and a hollowed-out book. [Are We Safer Today than on 9/11?]

“If the number of firearms we’ve discovered so far this year didn’t shock you, these examples might: a live 40mm high explosive grenade; a bottle wrapped in black electrical tape and filled with flash powder, and three M-80 fireworks; a black powder flask filled with 5oz. of black powder; even an explosively-viable cannonball; and last but not least, a live blasting cap,” TSA wrote.

[Related: Weapons found in two bags at Connecticut airport]

Along with the deadly weapons, agents have also found a lot of other stuff that’s dangerous but also just plain weird. Confiscated items include bear mace in a sock, eels, dead venomous snakes, a grenade launcher and even a gassed-up chainsaw.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Confiscation is as bad as stealing because many items are quite valuable or worth too much to let anyone take them away presumably to profit from. Amend those laws! Don’t they have a weapons locker (which cannot be accessed during flight for obvious reasons) for the weapons, or an accessible pet-cargo area (Eels if for pets . . . ), or a refrigerated storage area (Eels if for food . . . ) for all of the above? Only those who smuggle or try to sneak past could be fined no more than 1% of the value of the item at most. Cannonballs unless by some astral or ethereal or quantum issue that interacts in a negative manner with the equipment, are a non-issue, being harmless even compared to handphones which can have signals that interfere with equipment.

Paul Ryan is taking on the Obama campaign directly over Vice President Biden’s “back in chains” comment, calling them the mark of a “desperate” campaign as President Obama defends his running mate against bipartisan criticism.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Radio, Ryan kept up the new tough tone that Mitt Romney set earlier in the week.

“You know, these are the kinds of things you say when you’re desperate in a campaign,” Ryan said of Biden’s comments. “I think you’re going to hear more of these things as we go on because they have a terrible record and can’t run on it so they’re going to kind of sink this campaign to these low levels to distract people.

“To try and you know, stoke the emotions of fear and envy, and it’s just not going to work. People are going to see through this. We’ve gone from hope and change to anger and division and blame and attack and I think people are going to see through this,” he said.

He also brushed off Sarah Palin’s recent suggestion on Fox News that he drop Biden from the ticket in favor of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee and a Fox News contributor, had said Biden’s comments are the latest example of how he “really drags down that ticket.”

Obama, in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” downplayed Palin’s comments.

“We don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the chatter and the noise and this and that,” he said. “The country isn’t as divided with gaffes or some stray remark as Washington is. Most folks know that’s just sort of a WWF wrestling part of politics. It doesn’t mean anything, just fills up a lot of air time.”

He also said in an interview with People magazine that Biden’s remarks meant consumers would be worse off if Republicans succeeded in doing away with new restraints on financial institutions.

“In no sense was he trying to connote something other than that,” Obama said.

Hundreds of black people were in the audience when Biden added, “They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”

In Iowa for a bus tour, Obama said the reaction to Biden’s remarks was a function of politics, but he did not blame his vice president.

“The truth is that during the course of these campaigns, folks like to get obsessed with how something was phrased even if everybody personally understands that’s not how it was meant,” Obama told People. “That’s sort of the nature of modern campaigns and modern coverage of campaigns. But I tell you, when I’m traveling around Iowa, that’s not what’s on people’s minds.”

A prominent Democrat, though, spoke out against Biden’s comments Wednesday. The nation’s first elected black governor, Doug Wilder of Virginia, claimed the comments brought race into the presidential contest.

Romney alluded to Biden’s comment Tuesday evening in delivering a tough critique of the Obama campaign.

“His campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the presidency,” Romney told a crowd of thousands at the final stop on his five-state bus tour. “Another outrageous charge came a few hours ago in Virginia. And the White House sinks a little bit lower. This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like.”

He continued: “So, Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago.”

“Particularly strange coming at a time when he’s pouring tens of millions of dollars into negative ads that are demonstrably false,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Romney has ALL the ethos, components of alpha and cool with an enviable circa 1800s (though somewhat fundo tainted) background lineage to boot, BUT Romney should not be in politics because the policy proposed by Romney kills the 99%. A pillar of society does not mean an ability to ensure good policy writing or an ability to be President. If USA is going to war WITH fat funding in the background, this is the heartless privileged guy who lived well and knew success all his life we all want to be (but obviously cannot . . . USA is overpopulated to disallow this sort of privileged type as the norm, maybe if USA was a population of 3 millions then yes . . . ) to vote for. But right now USA is in shambles economically and Romney can’t be voted now as the 99% and middle class would be wiped out resulting in a failed state. Romney is a SUPERIOR COMPONENT of the USA ‘machine’ (much like ROM chips), but cannot the the CPU.

Only someone bridging the disparate groups and not be so enmired in one group like business to be blind to the middle class and 99%, can do the President’s job. The 1% favouring policy proposed by Romney confirms this. Paul Ryan is the ideological weasel form of Dune’s Attreides hero (even looks abit like the guy, though ‘weaslier’) that may be suitable AGAIN to hammer USA’s enemies with INTERNALLY – BUT USA has not cleared up the mess in the Middle East yet. We might say that Romney is a man before his time . . . perhaps 20 years later when USA has a full wallet AGAIN (not just Romney and the 1% having that full wallet but everyone 99% else) could Romney run, the entire background conditions of the day for Romney’s success in this election look entirely wrong. Unless Romney and the 1% above 50 million all pitch in 70% of their wealth to cancel USA’s debt?

As the system runs now the 99% still are playing with fiat, should the ‘remove fiat’ suggestion be implemented or the fact that ‘there is no such thing as money’ reaches the 99%’s understanding, Romney and 1%’s opportunity for action will be closed forever any ‘electronic wealth’ they hold would be rendered useless, this could happen as soon as after this election if in a majority of congressional seats, Joe Public types come forward to stand and be elected by the 99%. Term limitless oligarchs who have gotten wealthy from corporate raiding like Romney and most of the 1% cannot be allowed to dominate US politics, so what will the 1% do? If the fiat system is to survive, ‘something drastic’ needs to be done, and that means plutocrat 1% types including Romney have to share their wealth with the 99% by cancelling USA’s debt . . .

Spirituality is not material wealth and cannot be shared in the same manner, what one accrues via spirit is not the same as material wealth, but that is for another article to cover . . . vote Joe Public or be Joe Public voters only!

An Auckland man who recorded a probation officer talking about supplying a paedophile with a prostitute dressed like a child says he has no doubt the incident actually happened – and likely more than once. Corrections have launched an investigation into the allegations, saying its first step will be to establish whether the recording was legitimate. A Corrections spokeswoman said the department would complete a review of the officer’s caseload to establish if he had worked with sex offenders, and who and what the statements referred to.

It said it was yet to verify if there was a specific sex offender in question. The investigation was likely to take around two weeks. The probation officer has been suspended while the department investigates. On the recording the officer talks about organising a prostitute for another offender as part of a ”safety plan” to control the offender’s risk. The West Auckland resident, who was also being managed by the man, said he recorded the meeting because he did not like some of the probation officer’s comments. He also took either his mother or father along to the meetings as a support person, because he didn’t want to be alone with the officer.

“It was disgusting. He was definitely talking about a specific sex offender, saying ‘I had this plan and this is what we did’.” On the recording the officer talks about the difficulty of managing people on home detention for ”pretty sick crimes” who ”still have a need for, for instance, child sex”. Referring to one case he says: ”I’m not able to supply them with child sex but we’ve worked out a plan where, hey, we’ll go out to get a prostitute who comes to the house and she dresses up as a child.”

The officer says it hasn’t stopped the offender’s urges but stopped him having to ”grab someone off the street”.

He then says: “It’s difficult talking about a chap who sits there in the lounge [and] gets sexually excited when the girls walk past going to school.

”That’s what we’ve had to do, and because of that help they’re kinda safe.”

The officer goes on to say the safety plan allows the child sex offender to integrate into the community.

”Instead of snatching someone or lurking in the bushes or progressing into something that could possibly put him into trouble he knows, he rings, happy fun times and she comes over, dresses up, does her bit and the pressure’s gone. He’s OK.”

There are 39 offenders in West Auckland who are managed by community probation services for sexual offences.

Corrections Department acting regional manager Alastair Riach earlier said the department did not provide or pay for the provision of prostitutes to any offenders.

”We aim to keep the public safe by working with offenders to change their behaviour associated with their risk of reoffending, and to develop a lifestyle that helps them to maintain these changes.”

Follow @AucklandNowNZ

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Exactly as envisioned. This is how society should deal with such proclivities. Put enough people in the right context and same place, and this becomes a rather dull subculture for those not interested. Civilisation means being able to do this. Being fundo means honor killings on either side, bloody tribal feuds or for Capitalists, psychiatric establishment drug sales or asylums (in the worst places of the fundo world also ‘Religious Correction Centres’), higly profiteering jail terms and jail contractors for so called crimes like smoking pot or being LGBT. Seems like the world needs to look at New Zealand for pointers on how to do this.

Very sex positive and instead of criminals, we get another facet of adult industry with taxpaying consumers. In the Universe of course, stranger things have happened than a supposed pimp dressing up a consensual and aware woman willling to ensure paedophiles keep their preferences in proper context. So who needs to chemically castrate or imprison or even persecute . . . so first, set up the socio-psychological infrastructure in the form of fetish clubs catering to whatever in adult districts. That as we all know is impossible for FUNDO societies and also Uncontrolled/Unlimited Capitalist societies . . . http://civilliberty.about.com/od/gendersexuality/tp/History-of-Prostitution.htm

ARTICLE 13

Pussy Riot to grace Playboy? – Published: 15 August, 2012, 13:50

Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikovas (RIA Novosti / Andrey Stenin)

Ukraine’s edition of Playboy is considering having one of the arrested Pussy Riot punk band members star on the magazine’s cover.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the youngest of the three girls awaiting a verdict in the Pussy Riot trial may appear on the cover, if the Moscow court sets the girls free.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alehina, 24, and Ekaterina Samutsevich, 29, are charged with hooliganism after the band rushed into Russia’s main church and performed what is described as a “punk prayer” calling on Mother Mary to drive Putin away. The prosecutors want the girls jailed for three years. The verdict will be delivered on Friday August 17.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Vlad Ivanenko told Izvestia daily that Playboy had already contacted Tolokonnikova’s representatives with the offer to arrange a photo shoot. Talks are currently suspended awaiting the court decision.

“Our magazine readers are active social networks users, where Pussy Riot girls have become the main trend over the past months,” Ivanenko said. “We see Nadezhda Tolokonnikova as an art-activist and believe that our readers will be enthused with her appearance on the cover,” he said adding that his deputy “dreams of marrying Nadezhda.”

Tolokonnikova is not new to getting undressed for public. In 2008 she and her husband Pyotr Verzilov were involved in an event including group sex filmed in Moscow’s Museum of Biology. Tolokonnikova was 18 and nine months pregnant. The footage was later posted on the Internet.

Pussy Riot has gained massive global support. Friday will see rallies for the feminist punk band members in at least two dozen cities around the world. Simultaneous demos will be held an hour before a Russian court gives its decision.

Many celebrities, such as Bjork, Madonna, The Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Terry Gilliam, Yoko Ono, and members of The Who and The Pet Shop Boys have spoken out for the girls.

The three girls on trial have already spent over five months in prison.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Only porn could defuse b.s. like this. Without porn, where would civilisation be?

1.4 million part-time workers say they are doing it because they simply can’t get full-time work
Some can’t afford to retire so work a few days a week
Overall unemployment is down 46,000 to 2.56 million in the last three months
Many more jobs in London because of Olympics, so unemployment could rise again after summer

Record numbers of Britons are working part-time after those struggling to find full-time positions pushed the figure above the eight-million mark for the first time.

Official figures show that 8.07 million people toil for fewer than 25 hours a week – the highest figure since records began in 1992.

One in seven of them would like to work longer but can’t find the job, while others only remain in part-time employment because they can’t afford to retire.

The grim figures came amid warnings that the so-called ‘Olympic effect’ – which has helped overall unemployment fall in recent months – will end after the summer.

Union bosses said the booming numbers of part-time workers only reflected soaring levels ‘despair and waste of human talent’ and they called for George Osborne to be axed as Chancellor.

Boost: Many people are taking part time jobs in supermarkets, shops and offices because they cannot get full time work

However, the Government has trumpetted the fact that overall unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for a year after a big jump in the number of people in work.

The jobless total fell by 46,000 in the quarter to June to 2.56 million, an unemployment rate of 8 per cent, according to the office for national statistics.

The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance last month was 1.59 million, down by 5,900 on June.

Most of the quarterly fall in unemployment was recorded in London, suggesting a big jobs boost from the Olympic Games that could go the other way after the summer ends.

Bosses hire hard-working foreigners because British youth are ‘lazy’, employers’ group warns

Experts are questioning how much the unemployment figures can ‘defy gravity’ at a time when the economy as a whole is contracting.

‘While this is undoubtedly good news, the latest labour markets statistics do raise questions about why they seem so out of kilter with other recent economic data.

‘It is therefore not clear whether these data herald better economic news to come and whether the Olympics can offer a lasting economic legacy.’
London jobs boost: Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for a year, an improvement thought to be down to the Olympics

London jobs boost: Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for a year, an improvement thought to be down to the Olympics

The number of people in work increased by 201,000 to almost 30 million, the highest since last summer, with half of the rise coming in London.

Average earnings increased by 1.6 per cent in the year to June, up by 0.1 per cent on the previous month.

Youth unemployment – for those between 16 and 25 – remains at just over one million despite figures showing a drop of 4,000.

Union leaders warned that Britain faces an unemployment rise once the Olympic effect has worn off and urged the Government to reverse its cuts plans.

Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB union, said: ‘These figures show the level of despair and waste of human talent in an economy going through this double-dip recession five years on from the credit crunch of 2007.

‘David Cameron and Nick Clegg should now conclude that George Osborne is simply not up to the job of steering our economy and he should be moved to make way for a change of direction as he has proved beyond doubt that it is not possible to deflate your way to growth.’

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: ‘This small fall is welcome, but there will be no lasting Olympics legacy in the jobs market.

‘The end of thousands of temporary jobs will see unemployment climbing after the summer.

‘Students waiting for A-level results this week face a bleak jobs future. They are set to join the dole queues in high numbers as the hike in tuition fees has priced many thousands of young people out of their dream of going to university or into further education.

‘The Tories need to inspire a generation by rebuilding our economy and safeguarding the future.
Jobless rate: Two year figures reveal a recent drop to 8 per cent unemployment

‘This must include targeted help for young people, as a part of a wider programme of Government-led job creation. The continued austerity agenda is condemning our economy to the slow lane.’

But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith suggested that the overall trend in the jobless figures was positive and insisted that the Coalition’s policies were helping to deliver future growth.

He said: ‘These are positive and encouraging figures demonstrating the strength of our private sector – notwithstanding the difficult economic times it is still creating jobs, the vast majority of which are full time. Unemployment is falling and the claimant count is down.’

Unemployment has fallen for five consecutive quarters, while the so-called claimant count was down for the first time since April.

But there was an increase of 1,600 in the number of women claiming jobseeker’s allowance to 530,000, compared with a 7,500 fall among men, to just over a million.

The number of people classed as economically inactive, including those looking after a sick relative, on early retirement, or who have given up looking for work, fell by 117,000 to 9.1 million, just over 22 per cent of the working age population.
Jobs trends: Unemployment and the claimant count over the past two years

Jobs trends: Unemployment and the claimant count over the past two years to the end of June

Around 150,000 people were made redundant in the three months to June, down by 21,000 from the quarter to March and 4,000 lower than a year ago.

There were 472,000 vacancies across the country in the quarter to July, up by 10,000 on the three months to April, and 16,000 more than a year ago.

But not everyone criticised the Government.

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said: ‘The labour market continues to defy gravity and is performing remarkably well given the extended weakness of the economy.

‘It is very hard to reconcile employment growth of 201,000 in the three months to June, with GDP contraction of 0.7% quarter on quarter in the second quarter, especially as this was a third successive quarter of decline.

‘The implication is that either the economy is doing appreciably better than the national accounts data show, the labour market is doing significantly worse than the hard data show, or productivity has genuinely weakened sharply. The jury is currently very much out as to what the actual answer is but it could very well be a combination of all three.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In objective reality rather than socialised insanity’s outgrowth from civilisation, there were NEVER any such things as jobs or educational institutions, only apprentices and the craftsman manufacturers that weren’t going to take advantage of the 99% blue collars while the white collar management types got peanuts and the board of director CEO types took everything. After the War of Independence, some of the Tories pretended to be Americans who loved democracy so they wouldn’t get lynched for being redcoats. If the hidden Tories still in USA were so democratic they should have by now distributed the land and wealth ESPECIALLY the oil or gold or mineral wealth there and then – as the property of ALL the people, not just for those who happened to be settled there or with land rights, with the Native Ameri-red Indians holding the most rights . . . NOT continue the fiat and feudal tax system which has ballooned to an extreme form this day.

If the 99% knows whats good for them, they will vote only on the above premise and on a pre-vote statuary declaration by the proposed candidate to immediately ratify that bill to implement Socialism with Capitalist Limits immediately once in office AND only the Joe Public types or those millionaires not above 20 million are more likely to accede to the above pre-vote requirement – welcome to the War of Independence 2, this time to OVERHAUL the constitution and wealth distribution paradigm. Within this blog is described exactly what must be done, I haven’t collated the text yet, but distribution of wealth and land is the very first thing to be done. The 1% won’t like what they see but the 99% who are dying of poverty out there will definitely want to vote for that redistribution of land or money and must vote only for non-GLC Joe Public types only.

Being civilised though, USA should allow the 1% types to take out the fiat the 1% think they are entitled to (printing presses go into ooverdrive) THEN switch to PMs and imposed Wealth sequestration limits of 20 million. Those who do not have jobs should work their land, if they innovate, they get rich by patents but limited to 20 million in assets so that the rest goes to others to catch up in quality of life, the ‘trickle down’ effect is a myth, there is none, quality of life for the 99% has never been worse while the 1% never had better.

We will still see innovation AND better distribution of wealth, we don’t need homeless or beggars, nor do we need millions and billions worth plutocrats AND USA will truly belong to everyone (everyone gets a few acres of land USA has 2 billion acres of land – thats 6 acres each (actually every slave was given 40 acres when slavery ended), enough to grow and live off very comfortably unless having many wives or many children by a single wife – this automatically warns against overpopulation, at the same time there will never be a jobs problem again, the food/medicine from the ground/produce if they work the land is FREE (no more food stamps), there will be no homeless (everyone has land to build on, if they work hard they will be able to build palaces), finally MIGRANTS can be invited in to WORK FOR AMERICANS who have land, thereby creating options for EVERYONE as well as bringing in a useful menial class who can be fed and housed to work on manufacturing with materials from the land, and be sent home with some manufactured goods which obviously needs USA to innovate, as any country which adopts the above system will not need to send their people overseas with USA the most likely country able to implement EQUALITY in wealth, land and political power distribution.

The governments that are exploitative intentionally and slow on the implmentation of the above will likely be the countries USA or countries using the above system will get their menial workers from. This also says that free legalized migrants AND overpopulation AND lack of natural resources OR over-militarisation or expenditure on military adventurism will be the killers of any nation. There is no jobs shortage or homelessness or hunger if land and wealth is re-distributed. Try the below redistribution :

All unused land is distributed to all homeless or ‘poor’ then recalculating wealth as follows :

1 billion will be allowed to keep 20 million in PMs, 1 vehicle per family member (carbon footprint reduction is important so few vehicles is better)
100 million will be allowed to keep 2 million in PMs, 2 vehicles per family (carbon footprint reduction is important so few vehicles is better)
10 million will be allowed to keep 200 thousand in PMs, 1 vehicle per family (carbon footprint reduction is important so few vehicles is better)
1 million will be allowed to keep 20 thousand in PMs, 1 vehicle per family (carbon footprint reduction is important so few vehicles is better, who knows those who have caused the least pollution probably have the greatest say . . . )

This may seem extreme but because everyone will be producing food and goods (think 3D printers and DEFLATION due to less zeros held by the richest) will be produced by migrant labour, prices probably will return to 1800 era levels. (i.e. a horse cost $30 silver dollars, today 2010 $2000 therabouts or 60 times. So considering that, all above sums would be 60 times more in liquid asset, with $600K Rolls Royces or Sports Cars costing $10,000, a Fast Food Meal costing 0.99 should be worth 2 cents (0.016 exactly, maybe 3 meals for 0.02 cents – but who needs to pay for food when food is free), an Android phone would cost USD$3.33 . . . so voters please vote properly for a 2 TERM ONLY, Governor or Congressman or President who will do the above and put an end to this useless back and forth . . . as for manufactured goods for locals, ALL workers of any particular manufacturer are entitled to requisition a single unit of that item the factory produces, payment will be CENTS only, so people will work to obtain goods direct or to be exchanged via barter. This is calculated by man hours of work – doubtless a high tech handphone/computer should be worth more man hours than a t-shirt but if wifey at home can knit you a shirt, only the difficult to build items will be worked for (definitely not food or even energy with solar), with MANY people opting out and choosing quality of life instead of being insulted by being on the work line.

Although if the only way to get a tech gadget is by working on the assembly line, for certain the whole idea of work would be that much more meaningful though productivity may not be faster due to retraining etc.. If entirely automated then perhaps a single person could train the next to use the production line machines which does not require much training in reality except for when repairs are needed etc.. Education is not about money but interest in subjects. Jobs are a myth when wealth and land distribution is present.

Remuneration structures linked to short-term performance have created incentives for dishonesty and must be changed

There has been a lot of focus recently on a long and growing list of scandals involving some of the biggest global banks. Barclays has been in the spotlight for manipulating the London inter-bank offered rate and has been fined $460 million by regulators in the United States and United Kingdom.

But Barclays is not alone, the list of other banks involved includes some of the best-known global banks, from Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank to HSBC, RBS and UBS.

In addition, JPMorgan Chase announced a fresh assessment of losses in the trading positions of its London-based unit, which have now been revised upward to $5.8 billion. Meanwhile, HSBC faces the threat of being fined up to $1 billion by the US authorities for allegations of laundering money and financing terrorists, and Standard Chartered has been accused by the US financial watchdog of violating anti-money laundering rules.

It is not surprising that the banking sector, already under attack in the midst of the global financial crisis, has been hit by a new wave of criticism. But most worryingly, trust and confidence in the financial system have reached a record low.

Although there are many reasons why the banking sector collectively has perpetrated so many misdeeds and broken ethical norms, greed is one of the root causes. Therefore, to fix the banking sector requires reshaping its corporate culture.

The values of an organization are shaped by its corporate culture. Of course, any business aimed at maximizing shareholders’ values must strive to make a profit, but the profit-making activities must be legal and morally acceptable. Experience shows that misbehavior in the banking sector often stems from the belief that only bonuses can reward people. Remuneration structures, often linked to short-term performance, have created incentives for dishonesty.

But as Greg Smith, who resigned as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the company’s US equity derivatives business, wrote in an article, “Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs”: “people who care only about making money will not sustain this firm – or the trust of its clients – for very much longer”.

Leadership plays an important role in shaping the culture of a bank. Clearly, the “tone at the top” is a key factor influencing how a bank operates. Moreover, qualified leaders motivate subordinates to work for the good of a bank, not just for themselves. In particular, executives of a bank should have a special responsibility to create an environment where people cannot do bad things. As Bob Diamond, Barclays’ former chief executive, once declared, “the evidence of culture is how people behave when no one is watching”.

Financial regulatory reforms will help banks change their culture. Imposing higher standards of capital adequacy and liquidity management can lower leverage ratios and increase loss-absorbing capabilities, thus reducing the appetite for taking risks and limiting profits in the banking system.

The scandals of the past months may have been a watershed in policymakers’ attitudes toward regulating banking services in many countries. From the Volcker Rule in the US, which prohibits proprietary trading business in banks, to the Vickers Recommendations in the UK, which separate banks’ retail business from their investment business, restrictive measures could force banks to be more transparent and change the incentives driving their behavior. It is important that banks stick to their core mission of supporting the real economy.

Regulators in Western countries should learn from their mistakes. The Financial Service Authority in the United Kingdom has reportedly tracked the price-rigging back to 2005. In April 2008, a Barclay’s employee told an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that the UK bank was deliberately manipulating LIBOR, which was then briefed to the Bank of England and the British Bankers’ Association. But the regulators did not respond quickly and thus missed the opportunity to reform the system.

The effects of these scandals will stretch far beyond developed countries. Chinese banks and regulators must seriously consider how to further promote a healthy corporate culture and enhance the sector’s internal control mechanisms.

Usually, financial crises occur when what was thought to be low risk turns out to be very high risk. For this reason, the banking sector requires special regulation, because its failures have very big economic, political and social fallouts. In this respect, the nation’s top bankers must be accountable and of high integrity, no matter how intensified the competition becomes.

It is understandable that the recent scandals have enraged the public. Nevertheless, it is useless to direct perpetual “blame and shame” at the banks. Instead, the focus should be on how to inspire and encourage banks to fulfill their responsibilities and redefine their culture.

The banking business involves risks and its corporate culture cannot be managed by outside regulation alone. It must be cultivated internally step by step.

Social Security Administration says their request for hollow point bullets is for their staff’s safety

The US Social Security Administration wants Americans to know that they are concerned with the safety of their workers. That is why, they now say, they’ve ordered 174,000 rounds of lethal hollow-point bullets.

Responding to reports centered on the SSA’s recent request for tens of thousands of rounds of high-power, heavy duty ammunition, the agency tasked with assisting the elderly and disabled with federally funded benefit packages has attempted to explain their invitation for ammo makers to make them a deal.

“Our special agents need to be armed and trained appropriately,” a blog post from the SSA office explains. “They not only investigate allegations of Social Security fraud, but they also are called to respond to threats against Social Security offices, employees and customers.

Days after the SSA published a solicitation online for a lot of .357 Duty Carry Sig 125 grain bonded JHP hollow point bullets, the agency says there is nothing especially unusual about their request.

“[O]ur office has criminal investigators, or special agents, who are responsible for investigating violations of the laws that govern SSA’s programs,” the agency explains in the post, published on Thursday. “Currently, about 295 special agents and supervisory special agents work in 66 offices across the United States.These investigators have full law enforcement authority, including executing search warrants and making arrests.”

Responding to the large request of 174,00 rounds, an administrator on the SSA blog writes, “this is a routine procurement that we typically make every fiscal year.”

“We have about 295 criminal investigators who must qualify with a firearm four times per year.If each investigator uses 150 rounds per qualification, then we would need 177,000 rounds per year.This number can vary based on the total number of agents, and any type of specialized training we might undertake. “

In a November 2004 bulletin circulated out of the United States Attorneys’ Office, the government states, “even the slightest error or fraud in the overall process can result in millions of dollars in overpayments or underpayments of Social Security benefits.”

The SSA, contained in a network of over 1,400 offices, is tasked with aiding the elderly, retired, disabled and others, and says on their website, “For the public, we are the ‘face of the government.’”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

How about NON-LETHAL tranquiliser darts? The state bureaus and state offices are civilian spaces, not slaughter houses. Any offending person should at least be guaranteed their life, passed out for a few hours at most, rather than being killed. Bad choice of weapon! Besides, the dead cannot be interrogated, whats the point of killing potential witnesses or leads into groups that send this sort of person? Civilisation demands at least this much! The American people for certain should concur!

ARTICLE 17

Hebrew Bible: Plagiarized Mythology and Defaced Monotheism

Posted on 21. Aug, 2012 by Dr Ashraf Ezzat in World News
Many are the stories that were told in the Hebrew Bible, but the greatest story that is yet to be told is the story of the Hebrew Bible itself.
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

The relationship with gods/god has always been one of man’s oldest preoccupations, and still is till this very day. And while it’s fair to assume that Modern day man owes his advancement in philosophy and science to ancient Greece and its earliest thinkers, it’s equally fair, when it comes to the development of religion and the evolution of religious thinking, to give credence to the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

In fact, the earliest vestiges of human faith in God, as we know it today, are to be traced back to the valley of the river Nile and between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. We’re surely to find the root of our belief in a supreme creator inscribed, in hieroglyphs and cuneiform, on the pyramids and papyri of ancient Egypt and on the clay tablets of Sumer … And not within the confines of the Hebrew Bible, as many still believe.

And if we still cherish the Greek school of wisdom and science and continue to build on the teachings of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras, I wonder why we stopped honoring the ancient gods of Egypt and Sumer and Babylon.

What has become of the mighty gods of the ancient Near East? What happened to Anu and Enlil, what has become of the beautiful Goddess “Inanna” Ishtar … The one god, Aten, and what happened to the omnipotent Amun/Amen of Thebes? … Amen, whose name is still echoing in every house of prayers of all organized religions on earth?

How come we fail to recall any of the magnificent epics of Sumer (watch video of the epic of Gilgamesh) or the amazing mythology of Egypt (watch video of the Egyptian creation myth) whereas our kids know the stories of the Hebrew Bible by heart?

But then again, if our kids are to be introduced to the myths of ancient Egypt and the epics of Sumer (watch video of the Sumerian creation myth) they won’t feel like they are in a strange land. The stories of Sumer and Egypt will sound so familiar.

“A lot of the stories in the Old Testament are in fact plagiarized material, particularly from the rich mythical heritage of the Sumerians – the inventors of writing. The story of Noah and the flood story, the creation of man out of clay, Cain and Abel, the gardens of Eden, the tree of knowledge, creation of Eve from Adams rib, and numerous other myths, like the throwing of Moses after he was born in the river, are all but stories found recorded on Sumerian clay tablets dating 5000 years back in time.”

… This has long been common knowledge amongst the scholars of history, archeology and anthropology, but I find it extremely necessary today, in the so called information age, to drag it out of the academia realm and expose it in the open before the public eyes.

Why do we remember and celebrate legendary figures like David and Solomon who had no bearing on the human history course, while we hardly recognize the enormous impact historical figures like Akhenaten or Hammurabi had on how we today come to define monotheism and the rule of law. (Watch video of Hammurabi’s code of laws, some of which are echoed in Moses’s commandments)

But then, what do we, men of modern times, know or even care? … We were only told that in the beginning was the word. But according to history … it wasn’t.

In the beginning, was the river – the Nile in Egypt and Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia. The river and the profound connection with nature gave the Egyptians and the Sumerians not only the stability and prosperity but also the craving to contemplate the creation of our cosmos and how life on earth came to be.

In other words, the river made the Egyptians and the Sumerians religious, and in a philosophical way. But does that mean that non-agricultural communities were not religious?

To answer that question, we first have to differentiate between religion and rituals. Most primitive communities, e.g., nomadic tribes like the Hebrews, had their local deities, as gods of war and fertility. On the other hand, a religion in ancient Egypt was not a religion of comfort or beneficence. It was an all-embracing doctrine, like a harmony that was observed by all the players in a big philharmonic orchestra. It was a way of life.

These Egyptian and Mesopotamian religions were Mythopoeic. Whereas our world view may be scientific or rational, so we tend to believe, these river civilizations adopted a world view based on myth.

The biggest copyright infringement in history

The stark resemblance between Biblical and Sumerian creation stories poses some serious questions

Now that we know that religion, with colossal temples and ziggurats and creation myths, first sprouted along the fertile banks of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia and the river Nile in Egypt, how could we explain the dominance of Judaism, some tribal cult which supposedly originated (centuries later in time) amid the arid terrains of Canaan, over the Egyptian and Sumerian once thriving theologies?

Actually Judaism didn’t, surpass the influence of the Egyptian nor the Sumerian theology; this was a formidably hard task for any nomadic community to aspire for, instead Judaism did it the easy way.

As the antiquity era was approaching an end, and as the hieroglyphic and the cuneiform writings were getting extinct, the Hebrews simply stole the Egyptian and the Sumerian thunder. The Hebrew scribes, whom I presume knew what they were doing, copycatted the famous myths/epics of ancient Egypt and Sumer, in what could be the world’s first and yet the biggest copyright infringement, and stuffed their Bible with them.

The Hebrews as nomadic tribes, and later as tradesmen, were always on the move all over the Fertile Crescent that was bounded to the west by Egypt and to the east by Sumer and Babylon (Mesopotamia). Their constant journeys gave them access to the famous epics and stories/myths of the ancient Near East.

When The Hebrew scribes began to write down parts of their old testament/chronicles, which they never imagined, nor planned to be a holy Bible, it was not an overnight job, rather it was a lengthy and interrupted process that may have started around the time of the Assyrian invasion (722 BCE) of the Levant, during which all of Canaan was virtually an Egyptian province, and culminated around the time of the Hellenistic period (332-63 BCE)

Ancient Near East

While geography was the reason behind the development of the brilliant civilizations of both the Egyptians and the Sumerians, it was on the other side, and ironically enough, the main cause for the Hebrews’ misfortune.

Delivered to the savagery of the clans and Squeezed in a land barren and hostile between the ancient superpowers without any chance of military resistance or evolving further beyond the nomadic/unsettled structure, the Jews turned to metaphysics and began to fantasize.

In an atmosphere of despair and rage, especially after the Romans ruthlessly crushed what was seen as the last Hebrew disobedience (66-70 CE) the Jewish religious megalomaniac Messianic fantasies prospered.

The powerlessness of the Jews found an outlet in the myths and invented a glorious national history- something similar to what modern day Zionism did – avenging long years of ostracism and cruelty and dragging their enemy’s names through the dirt.

In the Bible, the Hebrew scribes unleashed the dagger of malevolence and took a stab at the superpowers of the ancient world, namely Egypt, Sumer and Babylon.

Through a prism of total prejudice and deeply seated grudge the Hebrew scribes wrote, page up and page down, not what really happened in ancient times, but rather what they wished had happened.

So, in their scrolls, the Hebrew scribes depicted Babel (Babylon) as the (hot bed of vice) with its tower in ruin, where in reality it stood 90 meters high, and Egypt as the land of slavery and tyranny, devastated by Yahweh’s gruesome punishments in the aftermath of which Egypt’s Pharaoh and his army drowned, where in fact, Egypt stood, for uninterrupted 3000 years, as one of the ancient world’s superpowers.

At that time, something quite weird, that only analytical psychology could explain, started taking place in the Hebrew Bible.

Everything the Israelites desperately longed for, namely a mythology with fascinating stories like that of the Sumerians, a religion with big temples like that of the Egyptians … and yes, a piece of land they could call home like everybody else, the Hebrew scribes made damn sure it was granted to them on the pages of their bible.

And in the process of making up a virtual/counterfactual history for the Israelites, the bible scribes had to simply rewrite the ancient Near Eastern history in a way that would make room for their tribal patriarchs to fit into the story.

Replacing Ziusudra with Noah, Enki with Adam, Sargon of Akkad with Moses and Aten with Yahweh, the Hebrew scribes gave the world one of its most inconsistent and confusing books ever. In a cunning way, the Hebrew scribes, as they wrote down the scripture of their Bible, had plagiarized the ancient Near Eastern wisdom and claimed it theirs.

Copying the ancient and profound Egyptian/Mesopotamian mythology by a bunch of mysterious Hebrew scribes was, from my perspective, the beginning of deterioration of the human religious thinking.
Defaced Monotheism

Unlike the Greek mythology, the ancient Near Eastern mythology was denied, by the demise of the ancient languages and the Hebrew alteration/defacement of its stories the golden opportunity of producing/fostering a European-like renaissance.

The Hebrews, appropriating what otherwise could have stayed as one of the world’s finest myths and theology, have turned it into a completely different thing.

They have molded it into a tribal thing; the universal nature of the Egyptian gods, e.g., Amun, Aten, had been twisted and refashioned to function only as the Hebrews’ own exclusive god, and hence the Hebrews as his own chosen people. And in a way this dominating concept of favoritism/nepotism has, and for the first time in the history of mankind, introduced/nurtured the idea of religious extremism.

Usurping the profound mythology of the ancient Near East by the Israelites, was like snatching the original score of Franz Schubert’s last and unfinished symphony and handing it over to some tribal drum player to finish the job. Need we ponder over the product of such undertaking? … Nothing short of a total catastrophe.

Some will argue that the echoing of the Sumerian and Egyptian myths and beliefs in the Hebrew Bible is but another example of interaction amongst the different cultures of the ancient Fertile Crescent.

“The literature created by the Sumerians left its deep impress on the Hebrews. To be sure, the Sumerians could not have influenced the Hebrews directly, for they had ceased to exist long before the Hebrew people came into existence. But there is little doubt that the Sumerians had deeply influenced the Canaanites, who preceeded the Hebrews in the land that later came to be known as Palestine” pp.143-4, “History Begins at Sumer” Samuel Noah Kramer.

Well, of course the Hebrews/Israelites were influenced by the Mesopotamian literature and the Egyptian Theology, especially that their nomadic origins denied them the luxury of frequenting the colossal temples and serving the mighty gods as those of Egypt and Babylon. But frankly, the Hebrew case was more than just another cultural interaction; it was an act of trespassing.

And even if by time, the Sumerian and Egyptian myths had probably turned into anecdotal tales of the distant past, how could we explain the reason/motive why the names of the main characters were extracted out and replaced by Hebrew counterfeits. … Evenmore, with all the previous presumptions overlooked, how could we forgive the Hebrews’ wickedness of ascribing all this wisdom to their tribal god?

As their scribes were tampering with the history and the mythology of the ancient Near East, and through their ignorance/deceit the Israelites messed up not only with the great stories of Egypt and Sumer but they also damaged the concept of universalism and pluralism that for years underlined the religious thinking of the ancient Near East.

As the Hebrew scribes were tramping over the history of the ancient Near East they rewrote/invented a mythical table of nations (sons of Noah) that, at the end, and through a long cycle of selective favoritism, came down and as expected to favoring the sons of Shem (founding myth of modern day Semitism)

And hence, the world through the tribal lens of the Israelites was only conceivable as Jews vs. Gentiles, This lingering duality complex that denied the Jews, till this very day, the ability to assimilate anywhere outside the psychological orbit of the tribe.

“Jew and Gentile are two worlds, between you Gentiles and us Jews there lies an unbridgeable gulf…There are two life forces in the world: Jewish and Gentile…I do not believe that this primal difference between Gentile and Jew is reconcilable…” – You Gentiles, page 9, by Maurice Samuel

Contrary to what many may believe the Hebrew bible did not come up with the idea of monotheism, the Egyptian king Akhenaten did that and centuries before Judaism, and as a matter of fact YHWH, the Israelites’ one god had a consort by the name ‘Asherah’

On the other hand, the Sumerian and Egyptian pantheon of gods were pyramidal/hierarchal in a way that was always leading to the concept of one and supreme god presiding over the pantheon atop the pyramid – aka Henotheism.

Sigmund Freud

In his famous book, Moses and monotheism, Sigmund Freud concluded that monotheism was not a Jewish but an Egyptian invention, descending from the cult of the Egyptian sun god Aten. Moreover, upon applying his psychoanalysis to the myths/stories of the Hebrew bible, Freud not only argued that Moses was an Egyptian priest but he was also perplexed by how the whole story of Moses/Exodus, according to the oedipal pattern of analysis, was inverted and didn’t make sense the way it had been told. In other words the Hebrew myths/stories didn’t seem original.

Had he lived longer, delved deeper into the mythology of the ancient Near East, Freud would have reached the same startling conclusion about the origin of the Hebrew bible stories, as he did monotheism.

What Judaism actually added to the world’s religious thinking is something totally different and, at the same time, inherently harmful. Through their tribal and somehow shallow collective mentality, the Hebrews had planted the root of religious dogmatism and fanaticism when they allowed for the absurd idea of God’s chosen people to flourish and permeate the religious thinking from then on.

Unfortunately that religious extremism passed on to Christianity, which was supposed to act as a counterbalance to Judaism’s tribal vulgarity, until it reached its worst case in Islam.

What good is this kind of monotheism when its adherents, be it Jews, Christians or Muslims, are soaked to the arm pits in their fundamental belief/illusion that their god is the only true god and hence they are the true sons/believers … and that the others are just deluded people who somehow got lost along the way to salvation. Dividing the world into Jews and Goyim is simply the Jewish idea of monotheism, or in other words, the Jewish defacement of monotheism which we today and most unfortunately still endure through its long term fallouts.

What kind of god, who would favor a particular son and detest/abondon his others. This was something totally new to the Ancient Near East. May be the Egyptians had their own gods, but that did not prevent them from respecting Babylonian gods like Ishtar or acknowledging their power.

Even when Alexander the great or the Greeks, known as Ptolemies, invaded Egypt, they continued to worship the ancient Egyptian gods alongside theirs. And sometimes the ancient gods of the two cultures were combined (Syncretized) in one divinity, as in the brilliant example of the syncretized god, Serapis (half Greek, half Egyptian), who stood in glory for hundreds of years at the temples of ancient Alexandria and at the gate of its splendid library until his sanctuary was desecrated by the intolerant/extremist followers of early Christianity.

(Watch the tragic destruction of the ancient library of Alexandria and the sanctuary of Serapis by a fanatic Christian mob)

The prejudiced monotheism of Judaism, based mainly on the principle of nepotism/favoritism, was such a setback and a demeaning step, for the ancient religious thinking, compared to the monotheism of Akhenaten and his god Aten. The Aten, contrary to the tribal version of Yahew, was a universal god, a sun disk that released and stretched out its rays all over the earth and blessed everybody, not just the Egyptians.

The Hebrew scribes, in a cheap bid to grant a piece of land to the Israelites, and through their deliberation/or thoughtlessness had managed to strip the literature of ancient Sumer and the mythology of Egypt of its mysticism, universalism and wisdom. Through their tampering with the rich theology of the Ancient near East, and by clumsily sticking their tribal god into its intricate and sublime design, the religious thinking and evolution has since been immersed in dogmatism, tainted with extremism and gone astray.

For more articles visit Dr. Ashraf Ezzat website

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The prejudiced monotheism of Judaism . . . resulted in Xianity of the East Europeans in 0 AD, then later Islam of the Bedouins in the 630s where the same was COPIED AGAIN from Xianity (Spirit Jibril / Angel Gabriel exactly the same) with modifications of a perhaps a slight improvement – no anthropomorphic depictions allowed but far worse in final application by authoritarian rulers who by many accounts use religion to manipulate tyranise the people, religious fundos and fundo type societies.

Like the latest pop fashion cult of personality or electronic fad, they all wanted in, but forgot their OWN Elder Gods in the process. Judaism was formed from the Egyptian Priesthood after the Bedouins overran Egypt and the Priesthood escaped through the Red Sea to found Jerusalem with Amon Ra being converted into Y.H.V.H. and Moses his prophet (this was copied by Xianity with Jesus the prophet, then later Islam with Mohammed his prophet . . . study each faith and some Comparative Religion as well as Ancient History).

Amon-Ra (Aten) was the progenitor of all Monotheisms by the lazy Heretic Pharoah Akhenaten who was too lazy to worship polytheistically.Akhenaten ‘invented’ Amon-ra which was to disintegrate into the warring factions of ‘Monotheism’ (Judaism, Islam, Xianity) today because Amon-Ra even though ‘original’, was as prejudiced as Judaism – was for Egyptians ONLY, much like Islam is for Muslims and headed by Arab Kings only.

In this Friday, Aug. 10, 2012 photo, James Davis, 73, stands over the grave of his wife, Patsy, in the front yard of the home they shared in Stevenson, Ala. The city sued to make Davis move his wife’s remains from the residential tract, and Davis is asking the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals to block an order requiring him to disinter her remains. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

In this Friday, Aug. 10, 2012 photo, James Davis holds a photo of his late wife, Patsy Davis, on the porch of their home in Stevenson, Ala. Davis buried his wife in their front yard, and the city filed suit to force him to remove the remains. Davis is fighting a court order requiring him to disinter the body. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

STEVENSON, Ala. (AP) — James Davis is fighting to keep the remains of his late wife right where he dug her grave: In the front yard of his home, just a few feet from the porch.

Davis said he was only abiding by Patsy Ruth Davis’ wishes when he buried her outside their log home in 2009, yet the city sued to move the body elsewhere. A county judge ordered Davis to disinter his wife, but the ruling is on hold as the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals considers his challenge.

Davis, 73, said he never expected such a fight.

“Good Lord, they’ve raised pigs in their yard, there’s horses out the road here in a corral in the city limits, they’ve got other gravesites here all over the place,” said Davis. “And there shouldn’t have been a problem.”

While state health officials say family burial plots aren’t uncommon in Alabama, city officials worry about the precedent set by allowing a grave on a residential lot on one of the main streets through town. They say state law gives the city some control over where people bury their loved ones and have cited concerns about long-term care, appearance, property values and the complaints of some neighbors.

“We’re not in the 1800s any longer,” said city attorney Parker Edmiston. “We’re not talking about a homestead, we’re not talking about someone who is out in the country on 40 acres of land. Mr. Davis lives in downtown Stevenson.”

A strong libertarian streak runs through northeast Alabama, which has relatively few zoning laws to govern what people do with their property. Even a neighbor who got into a fight with Davis over the gravesite — Davis said he punched the man — isn’t comfortable with limiting what a homeowner can do with his property.

“I don’t think it’s right, but it’s not my place to tell him he can’t do it,” said George W. Westmoreland, 79, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam. “I laid my life on the line so he would have the right to do this. This is what freedom is about.”

Westmoreland declined to discuss his specific objections to the grave.

It’s unclear when the appeals court might rule. Attorneys filed initial papers in the appeal on Friday. The decision could come down to whether the judges believe the front-yard grave constitutes a family plot that requires no approval or a cemetery, which would.

In the meantime, Davis has protested by running for City Council. A campaign sign hangs near a bigger sign in his yard that says: “Let Patsy Rest in Peace.”

A law professor who is familiar with the case said it’s squarely at the intersection of personal rights and government’s power to regulate private property. While disputes over graves in peoples’ yards might be rare, lawsuits over the use of eminent domain actions and zoning restrictions are becoming more common as the U.S. population grows, said Joseph Snoe, who teaches property law at Samford University in suburban Birmingham.

“The United States Supreme Court has said that the states, and the cities through the states, have the power to regulate. But if it goes too far … then the government’s got to pay, and there are certain things the government just doesn’t have the power to do,” he said. “As we get bigger and as government gets bigger and as people are more regulated … you start having more and more disagreements.”

Davis, a longtime carpenter, built the family’s home on a corner on Broad Street about 30 years ago in Stevenson, a town of about 2,600 in northeast Alabama. Once a bustling railroad stop, the city is now so quiet some people don’t bother locking their doors. Stars twinkle brightly in the night sky; there aren’t many lights to blot them out.

Davis first met Patsy when she was a little girl. They were married for 48 years, but she spent most of her final days bedridden with crippling arthritis. Seated on a bench beside her marble headstone and flower-covered grave, Davis said he and his wife planned to have their bodies cremated until she revealed she was terrified by the thought.

“She said this is where she wanted to be and could she be put here, and I told her, ‘Yeah,'” Davis said. “I didn’t think there’d be any problem.”

There was, though. A big one.

After his wife died on April 18, 2009, the City Council rejected Davis’ request for a cemetery permit. The decision came even though the county health department signed off on the residential burial, saying it wouldn’t cause any sanitation problems.

Ignoring the council’s decision, Davis said he and a son-in-law cranked a backhoe and dug a grave just a few feet from the house. A mortuary installed a concrete vault, and workers lowered Patsy’s body into the plot in a nice, metal casket.

The city sued, and the case went to trial early this year. That’s when a judge ordered Davis to move his wife’s remains to a licensed cemetery. That order is on hold to give the state appeals court time to rule.

For now, Davis visits his wife’s grave each time he walks out the front door. He puts fresh artificial flowers on it regularly, and he washes off the marker when raindrops splatter dirt on the gray stone. At Christmas, he said, he and other relatives hold a little prayer vigil around the grave, which is beside an old wooden garage.

Edmiston said the man rejected several compromises from the city, including the offer of two plots in the municipal graveyard.

While state officials say they don’t know how many people might be buried on residential lots in Alabama, burials on private property in Alabama are not uncommon, said Sherry Bradley, deputy environmental director for the state Department of Public Health.

While the state can regulate cemeteries, Bradley said it doesn’t have any control over family burial plots. The city contends the grave at Davis’ home is an illegal cemetery that falls under government oversight, said Edmiston, the city lawyer.

If nothing else, Edmiston said, the appeals court might decide what constitutes a “family burial plot” in Alabama, and what’s a cemetery.

“It would be far-reaching if they say anyone can bury someone in their front yard if there are no drainage issues,” he said.

As it is, Davis said his five children will bury him in the yard beside Patsy after he dies, and they and his 15 grandchildren will care for the property from then on.

“That’s my perpetual care,” said Davis, referring to the city’s worry about what the grave will look like after he dies.

Davis is adamant that he won’t move the body, regardless of what any court says.

“If they get it done it’ll be after I’m gone,” said Davis. “So if they order her to be moved, it’s a death sentence to me. I’ll meet Mama sooner than I planned on it.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Man’s home or land is their castle. End of issue. This is ‘sovereign’ territory, and James Davis is well within rights to do whatever. Sometimes this is also due to the distance to the nearest cemetary, the sheer amount of paperwork for funerals and cemetaries, or the sheer cost of buying plots at cemetaries, or simple wishes of the deceased before dying or from belief that ‘high density resting places are as bad as high density living’ . ‘Fresh artificial’ flowers?!? Oxymoron MSM propaganda article? These days hard to tell what news portals are trying to do . . .

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff deputies examine a car with bullet holes at a crime scene where two sheriffs were killed and two wounded in LaPlace, La., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(AP) NEW ORLEANS – At least some of the seven people arrested in a fatal shootout with Louisiana deputies have been linked to violent anarchists on the FBI’s domestic terrorism watch lists, a sheriff said Saturday.

Detectives had been monitoring the group before Thursday’s shootout in Laplace in which two deputies were killed and two more wounded, said DeSoto Parish Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle. His detectives and other law enforcement discovered the suspects were heavily armed adherents to an ideology known as the “sovereign citizens” movement.

The FBI has classified “sovereign citizens” as people who believe they are free from all duties of a U.S. citizen, like paying taxes. The FBI considers the group’s members a danger for making threats to judges and law enforcement, using fake currency and impersonating police officers.

The seven suspects have been charged in the shooting of Deputy Michael Scott Boyington, who survived. But authorities have said murder charges are pending.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the killings but declined to comment Saturday and referred questions to the Louisiana State Police, the lead investigating agency.

Arrested were the group’s apparent leader, 44-year-old Terry Smith, his wife, Chanel Skains, 37, and his two sons, Derrick Smith, 22, and Brian Lyn Smith, 24. Also arrested were Brittney Keith, the girlfriend of Brian Smith; Kyle David Joekel, 28, and a woman living with him, 21-year-old Teniecha Bright.

Brian Smith was charged with attempted first-degree murder and the others with related charges.

Detectives in Tennessee, Nebraska and Louisiana have sketched a portrait of an outlaw gang led by a 44-year-old accused molester named Terry Smith, who has a criminal record dating to 1984 in Morehouse Parish, the Times-Picayune reported Saturday.

Morehouse Parish Sheriff Mike Stubbs said the Smith family was notorious. He said they lived for a long time in a house on the outskirts of Bastrop.

“We had a good bit of dealings with them,” he said. He said the Smith brothers had been involved in theft and drugs.

Arbuckle, reached by telephone by The Associated Press, said his deputies had the group under surveillance and considered them armed and dangerous before they suddenly left his parish about two months ago. He said they had set up camp at a mobile home park while they working at an International Paper plant.

The sheriff said deputies became suspicious after they investigated a reported burglary in May at the park’s laundry. The detectives discovered members wanted under warrants issued in Tennessee, Nebraska and Louisiana.

“Once we had them on our radar we started doing research on them,” he said. Arbuckle said his detectives monitored the group until they left in November.

Sovereign citizens are a loosely organized movement founded in the 1970s and more fully developed in the 1980s, according to the Anti-Defamation League website.

Sovereign citizens believe that all levels of government have no jurisdiction over them and resist — sometimes with violence — authority including police, the website said.

They also like to use what is dubbed “paper terrorism.” It involves using frivolous lawsuits and fake documents and of using genuine documents such as IRS forms to intimidate, harass and coerce public officials, law enforcement officers and private citizens. Arbuckle said his detectives could easily have been the victims instead of the St. John the Baptist Parish deputies killed and wounded. Deputies Brandon Nielsen and Jeremy Triche were killed and along with Boyington, Jason Triche was wounded. The Triches were somehow related, authorities said.

“We understand they had some pretty good firepower,” Arbuckle said. “This very well could have been us” in the gunfight, he said.

He said the group traveled the country in trailers doing construction work and possessed a stockpile of weapons.

They were arrested after an early morning assault on Boyington led to the deadly shootout in the mobile home park in Laplace, a suburb west of New Orleans. Boyington was shot at the entrance of a parking lot used by contract workers on a job at a nearby oil refinery. He was working off-duty on a security detail at the lot.

Shortly thereafter, the other deputies were shot at the trailer park where a car involved in the first shooting was spotted.

Joekel and Brian Smith were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and will be jailed once they are out of the hospital. The others were jailed with bonds ranging from $350,000 to $750,000. The Gage County, Neb., Sheriff’s Office website listed Joekel among its most wanted fugitives, saying he is accused of making “terroristic threats” to patrons of a Nebraska bar and law enforcement officials. Sgt. Len Marie, a state police spokesman, said investigators were amassing evidence. He said the agency had received the reports from the DeSoto sheriff and other law enforcement agencies in other states. He said the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was involved.

He said it was too early to verify links to the extremist groups associated with the sovereign citizen movement.

Actually if enough Congressmen and Governors decide that taxes do not exist, taxes will not exist. One does not have to be a ‘sovereign citizen’ to not want to pay taxes, though those with extreme amounts of surplus should at least support local infrastructure, enforcement or military. Theft and other crimes in the pursuit of abolishment of taxes though are wrong. Good work on not outright killing these people (we keep hearing about homeless or defenseless people killed by overwhelming numbers of police) and arresting them for a trial.

Hope the citizens were not roughed up or anything. Some ‘police’ though are false police, and dress up in uniforms or even have fitted cars to look like police cars. The sovereign citizens could use this ‘fake cops problem’ as an ‘excuse’ for opening fire or ‘defending themselves’ . . . though any incidental injuries or killings if traced would have this Anti-Defamation or ‘self defending’ lot in the grey area.

Though he has endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee, the senator took to National Review Online to assert Congress’s role in declaring war.

After Senator Rand Paul endorsed Mitt Romney, he got grief from a lot of his libertarian supporters, especially after the GOP nominee stated that the president can wage war on Iran without Congressional approval. Anyone wondering how Sen. Paul would react, as I’ve been doing, need wait no longer. In a piece published Tuesday afternoon at National Review Online, he reiterated his dissatisfaction with President Obama’s domestic agenda, and then proceeded to write:

… I must oppose the most recent statements made by Mitt Romney in which he says he, as president, could take us to war unilaterally with Iran, without any approval from Congress.

This is a misreading of the role of the president and Congress in declaring war. The Constitution clearly states that it is Congress that has the power to declare war, not the president. The War Powers Act also clearly states that U.S. forces are to engage in hostilities only if the circumstances are “pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.

Absent these criteria, the president has no authority to declare war. Even if the president believes he has such authority, the War Powers Act goes on to require the president to seek congressional approval within 60 days of conflict. No president is above the law or above the Constitution.

Paul criticized the Obama Administration’s foreign policy too:

President Obama was elected on a platform of ending wars, yet he has opposed every effort made by me and others in the Senate to do that. He opposed my resolution to end the Iraq War. He has refused my urgings to end the war in Afghanistan more quickly. He started another war in Libya, and this time went further into unconstitutional territory than previous presidents by not even seeking Congressional approval whatsoever. I opposed him when he did that. Anyone who believes President Obama is less aggressive internationally than his predecessors is mistaken. I do not yet know if I will find a Romney presidency more acceptable on foreign policy.

As interesting as the piece itself is its venue, National Review Online’s group blog, The Corner, which isn’t generally friendly to non-interventionists. The comments beneath the post were as heated as you’d expect.

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Truly Asian – nepotism style! Dear me USA is learning lots of bad habits from Asia? Saboteur for dad Ron! Pretend to befriend then backstab Romney after Romney’s acceptance. Aww touching, but a dirty trick! Effective but unpleasant attack on Romney’s morale. Inverse point made about nepotism (dangerous in long run, USA is still fairly safe but this sort of obviousness is a sign of times to come) vs corporate raiders (USA in final economic stage collapse due to raiding, how could anyone want to vote Romney now?!?), both deserve no votes and are equally harmful, except in different manners. I will concede though that better Ron Paul than Romney, who’s effectively cheated because of campaign funding expenditure basis wins. The election is not about the amount of money one has to spend!

ARTICLE 2

WWII Veteran Being Forced Out of Home and Forced to Exhume Wife’s Body : Needs Your Help – June 15th, 2012

Warren C. Bodeker is an 89 year old World War II Army Airborne combat veteran and war hero, living in Montana, who is being thrown off of his own land and thrown out of his own house, by Montana Federal Bankruptcy Trustee, Christy Brandon, with the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Montana. And to make matters worse, Warren’s wife Lorna just died of cancer this past year, and is buried there on their land, right next to the house. Warren had planned to live there till he died and then be buried right next to his wife, there on their property at 11 Freedom Lane, in the town of Plains, Montana, but now, not only is he being forced off his land, he is being forced to exhume his wife’s body and take her with him (with his land being sold out from under him, the only way he can now be assured of being buried next to his wife as they had planned is to exhume her body and move it to a cemetery).

This is the most disgusting, callous, brutal, and unjust treatment of a WWII veteran by the “justice” system we have ever heard of. Here is a man who stepped up and went to war at the age of 19 to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific. When we say he is a war hero, we are not exaggerating. Serving in Co. B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division (see discharge papers below), Warren earned two bronze starts while making three combat jumps in the Philippine Islands in 1945.

One of those combat jumps was the daring rescue of prisoners of war at the Los Banos Internment Camp on the Island of Luzon, Philippines, February 23, 1945, where Warren and his brother paratroopers of Co. B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment parachuted in at dawn’s early light, 40 kilometers behind enemy lines, and rescued over 2,000 prisoners of war – men, women, and children – from their brutal Imperial Japanese guards, before those guards could slaughter them (as they had planned). Not one prisoner was killed in the raid (though many of the Japanese guards were). Private Warren Bodeker was there. He was one of those brave young paratroopers who the grateful prisoners truly considered heaven sent from above. As one of the prisoners, a missionary, described it in his diary:

“at 7:00 a.m. sharp, we heard and saw nine large transport planes flying low, and passing close to the camp; perhaps one mile to the east. Even as we all watched, we saw doors open and paratroopers came tumbling out. OH WHAT A SIGHT! With a tropical sunrise for a background, we saw about 150 parachutes open one after another and settle slowly earth-ward out of our sight behind the distant trees. We knew help had come.” From the book, Deliverance! It Has Come! By John S. Beaber.

Warren Bodeker and his surviving Airborne brothers came home to a grateful nation and settled down to a peaceful life. Warren lived happily as a law-abiding citizen on Freedom Lane in Montana, until he had to endure the great loss of his beloved wife Lorna this past year, after her five year battle against cancer, but Warren was still looking forward to being buried next to her on their property when he died, knowing that their land and home (which he and his wife built together) would be kept in the family.

But Warren had a pile of medical and credit card bills to deal with and filed for bankruptcy, and that is when his nightmare began. According to Warren and several witnesses, though Warren had utterly no intention of ever selling his land and home, and planned to die there and be buried next to his wife at 11 Freedom Lane, he was pressured and coerced into entering into a “stipulation” denying his bankruptcy discharge and waiving his homestead exemption, and thus coerced into selling his home, because he had failed to disclose some silver and gold he and his wife had set aside for their old age – which he considered a retirement fund that he did not have to disclose. Once that failure to disclose was discovered by the Trustee, Christy Brandon (a lawyer in Bigfork Montana who also works as a Chapter 7 trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court), Warren was pressured into signing the stipulation under threat of prosecution and under threat of having his home and land taken by means of adversarial proceedings with any left-over proceeds being consumed by lawyers fees and costs (with Christy Brandon serving as both the trustee for the estate and also as the lawyer for the estate, and also as the attorney for herself, as trustee). According to Warren and several witnesses, he was essentially told that the Trustee would take his land and home anyway, and if he resisted, he would wind up penniless. Unfortunately, his own lawyer at the time went along with the stipulation, and did not fight hard to keep Warren in his home. Watch the above video interview to learn the details.

Warren really did not understand what was going on in the complex legal world of bankruptcy, and did not understand his rights. In addition to the diminished mental capacity that so often occurs in someone nearly 90 years old, Warren is also hard of hearing and needs an assistant to help him keep track of what is being said during hearings. Much of the time, he just does not understand what is going on.

And even if Warren was wrong in not disclosing the silver and gold coins, the just and proper way to handle it would have been, at most, to deny him the discharge and require him to use the coins to pay off his creditors. The trustee didn’t have to pressure Warren into waiving his homestead exemption, by threatening to void it through an adversarial proceeding which would eat up the estate through legal fees and costs, and thus force him to sell his home and land. Forcing him off his land, and forcing him to exhume his wife’s body (with his land being sold out from under him, the only way he can now be assured of being buried next to his wife as they had planned is to exhume her body and move it to a cemetery), in the last years of his life – kicking him homeless to the curb with his wife’s casket – is an egregious, unnecessary, gross act of tyranny and injustice, in our opinion.

This is a callous act of brutality, devoid of human compassion, devoid of all sense of proportionality, devoid of any sense of decency, charity, justice or well-deserved respect of an elder veteran – much more like something the brutal Imperial Japanese internment camp guards would have done to Warren if they could than what his own country should do to a winner of two Bronze Stars who risked all, in combat, for this nation.

Warren’s lawyer withdrew from his case last month, and he has been trying to find a new bankruptcy lawyer, but then Warren was hospitalized with what was thought to be kidney stones, but which has now been discovered to be advanced prostate cancer, which is spreading throughout his body. There was a hearing held this past Tuesday, June 12, 2012, on Trustee Christy Brandon’s motion to have Warren removed from his home. Warren had been flown to the VA Hospital in Helena, Montana last week and was still hospitalized on the 12th and could not attend the hearing. From his hospital bed, Warren sent in a pro se motion for a continuance, telling the court that he was hospitalized and could not attend the hearing. He asked the court to continue the hearing until after he was discharged from the hospital. Warren also informed the court that his friend Roxsanna Ryan (whom Warren gave power of attorney) had scheduled an appointment for him with a psychologist so a competency exam could be done, and that he intended to challenge the validity of the stipulation based on his a lack of capacity to understand what he was agreeing to.

But despite the well established fact that Mr. Bodeker was in the hospital, the trustee, Christy Brandon, opposed the motion to continue the hearing. And even after knowing that Warren Bodeker was in the hospital and that he was set to undergo a competency examination which could show that he lacked the capacity to enter into the stipulation, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, the Honorable Ralph B. Kirscher, denied Warren’s motion to continue the hearing and granted the Trustee’s motion for an order for Warren to vacate the property. The trustee, Christy Brandon, then emailed Warren to tell him that she would be there at the home on Monday, June 18, 2012, accompanied by a Sheriff’s deputy, to kick him out of his home and have the locks changed.

This man risked his life in a daring combat jump from the low altitude of 500 feet (so low that reserve parachutes are useless, and a chute malfunction meant death) to rescue 2,000 innocent men, women, and children who faced certain death if he and his Airborne brothers had not made that jump that morning, February 23, 1945 (after the rescue, the Japanese returned to the area and massacred 1,500 local Filipino civilians, killing men, women, and children). And this is how the U.S. government thanks this man for his service?

We will post more details on this disgraceful travesty as they become known, but what is most important right now is that we have a duty to help this WWII hero in his time of need. Warren Bodeker needs:

1. LEGAL HELP. First of all, he needs a competent, tenacious bankruptcy lawyer to assist him in challenging the stipulation which waived his homestead exemption, and challenging the forced sale of his home and land. We are calling on any and all bankruptcy lawyers across the United States to step up and help this man. If you are an attorney who can help, please email us at: contact@oathkeepers.org and put “LAWYER” and “WWII vet” in the subject line. As noted above, Warren has an appointment scheduled with a psychologist who will conduct an assessment of his mental capacity to understand complex legal issues and his capacity and competency to enter into the stipulation which waived his homestead right. But he will need a real fighter of a bankruptcy lawyer who is willing to help him challenge the validity of that stipulation once the evaluation is done.

2. FINANCIAL HELP. Warren will need assistance to pay for that lawyer. There is a legal defense fund set up for him by close friends in Plains who are helping him (a truly wonderful family, Dan and Roxsanna Ryan, has stepped up to help him, including offering him a room in their home once he is kicked out of his home). They have set up a paypal account for him and a legal defense bank account. If you would like to donate directly to that legal defense fund, click here:

3. PUBLIC SUPPORT OF WARREN AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS TO INVESTIGATE AND HELP WARREN OBTAIN JUSTICE. Warren needs your very public show of support to keep his spirits up and to help get the attention of public servants, by encouraging them to do the right thing. Please contact Montana U.S. Senators Baucus and Tester, Montana U.S. Congressman Denny Reighberg, and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and urge them to step up and conduct an inquiry into this travesty of injustice and to help this WWII hero in any way they can, so that he can live out his few remaining final days in peace, in his own home, and so he can die in the home he and his wife built together, with their own hands, and so he can be buried there on the family land, next to his beloved wife Lorna, to rest, finally, in peace for all eternity. This warrior, this hero, this great American, this good man, deserves to be at peace during his last days and to finally rest in peace at his wife’s side, on their family land, after all he went through to fight against fascism.

Those, such as media, who wish to get Trustee Christy Brandon’s side of the story (as trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in this case) or who wish to ask her why she is handling this situation in this manner, rather than letting Warren Bodeker keep his home, can contact her using the contact information she has provided on public court documents:

Please be polite and professional when contacting any of the above public servants, including the Trustee, Christy Brandon, and – however angry you may be – please refrain from using profanity or making threats. Such will not help Warren’s cause.

We cannot let a man who fought against tyranny, brutality, inhumanity, and injustice – a man who earned two bronze stars while liberating the oppressed who were doomed to die – be treated like this, in such a disgusting way, at the very end of his life, in the very nation he served so bravely, without helping him. Let us support him and work to ensure that “Freedom Lane” in Montana is a reality, not a mockery. Let us help to give Warren Bodeker the satisfaction of dying a free man, on his own land, in peace, to rest there with his wife, Lorna. Please donate to his legal defense fund, contact the above noted elected state and federal office-holders and urge them to inquire into this case, and please forward this article far and wide, especially to any skilled bankruptcy lawyers you may know.

That is why plutocrats in government are particularly offensive. Romney (250 million)? Bloomberg (20 billion)? You see the above? Drop a 401K checque to the people defending USA from terrorists why don’t you, instead of watching USA go down? How many air craft carriers does 20 billion buy? How many 401ks is that worth? 600 and 50,000 respectively. If you guys don’t at least drop 10% of that fat (heck 50% for any respect to be accorded – so SELFISH . . . ) to help the real heroes above, nobody would bat a lid if 1% guys met ‘Muslims’. Then consider the below :

Just 1 single man below being subject to a proposed ‘Plutocrat Sequestered Wealth Requisition Bill’, could SAVE all army veterans half dead on the streets. But do we see anyone lifting a finger? Vote for 99%ters who will ratify such bills, not allow people to sequester the nation’s wealth while so many suffer, are homeless and starve . . . more so those who fought for the nation.

Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman repeated his assertion this week that the United States could benefit economically if the government began pouring money into anti-ET defense in preparation for a possible alien invasion of Earth.

Even a faked war of the worlds scare might help, he suggested.

The Huffington Post reached out to some experts who share an intense interest in the idea that earthlings are not the only intelligent game in town — or space.

We asked, If there were an ET threat and if the U.S. government were to suddenly rechannel its budgets into preparing an anti-alien defense, would that ultimately save our economy? Their responses varied, ranging from skepticism to enthusiasm.

Here is a sampling of their replies emailed to HuffPost:

“I assume the alien attack is a euphemism designed to gain public support for that spending effort. Therefore, my position would be that the alien invasion he proposes to prepare for is with the mythical aliens. They are Hollywood contrivances and conveniently always have fatal vulnerabilities that humans can exploit. The good news in that scenario is we both defeat the evil aliens, and in this case, restore our economy.” — John Alexander, a retired Army colonel and developer of the concept of nonlethal defense at Los Alamos National Laboratory

“Any aliens that have the capability to come here and ruin our whole day by vaporizing Earth or terrorizing its hominid inhabitants, would be centuries — perhaps millennia — beyond our technical level. To spend effort preparing for such a lugubrious possibility would be like the Neanderthals organizing their society to defend themselves against the U.S. Air Force. That won’t do them much good on the battlefield. But who’s to say? Maybe it would improve the Neanderthal economy.” — Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute and chair of the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Permanent Committee

“With just a little nudge, Krugman could become ‘the one’ economist to present a feasible Space Age stimulus package that would change the entire war-based economy and mentality into a Space Age one. The Cosmos Culture truth gets officially acknowledged. They land — by invitation! New roles for the military industrial complex, entrepreneurs, worldwide, with huge benefits and opportunities for ALL! Space travel, hotels, space hospitals, schools, labs, farms, industries — tech and info applied directly to solving urgent problems of human needs.” — Carol Rosin, aerospace executive, missile defense consultant and president of the Institute for Security and Cooperation in Outer Space

“There is no way to prepare for an alien invasion. These theoretical visitors would have overwhelming superior technology. What we should do is spend the dollars on something useful, such as an all-out commitment to colonize Mars within ten years. The ripple effect would be dynamic and the challenge would once again awaken our pioneering spirit!” — Fife Symington, a former governor of Arizona and Air Force officer, and witness to what he has called a huge UFO over Phoenix in 1997

“Do we know what practices would be effective in resisting aliens? Wouldn’t the public have to be convinced, in all countries, that there is such a threat? When have the major nations on this planet shown they can agree on any military course of action? Earthlings are already spending a trillion dollars a year on things military. Where would the money come from? Krugman seems to be suggesting more lies are what is needed. How about everybody cutting their military budgets in half and feeding people instead?” — Stanton T. Friedman, a nuclear physicist who worked on classified programs for large companies and is an advocate of the idea that some UFOs originate from other planets

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Paul Krugman is right here. If aliens redistributed the collective wealth of the above billionaire persons perhaps including those worth 50 million and above all the way to the billion level types as well, (heck leave them 20 million to spend on their retirement – thats 50 times 401K btw), American debt would be immediately ended and everyone could own a fully paid reasonable sized home and average car at least. If Obama is ‘alien’ enough, Obama could enact wealth distribution laws to pull USA out of the economic b.s. and still your above people will be waaaay above everyone else who just got that 401K . . . the collective joy of near 330+ million Americans could well elevate Obama to the status of a demi-God and even counter the ‘anger’ of the 1% of 50,000 people of the above levels (the 1%’ll be so angry having only 20 million left . . . riiiight and others are overjoyed with 401K yer spoiled brats, people are losing decades of their lives and what do 1%ters do with that wealth when their fellow countrymen suffer? Nothing, even for those who shot at ‘terrorists’ and got injured to keep these fat cats safe, meanwhile predatory Capitalists local and foreign further tear down USA . . . ) . . .

ARTICLE 3

Russian President Dominates Weaker Obama by Ulsterman on June 19, 2012 with 14 Comments in News

News reports now circulating of a more dominant Vladimir Putin lecturing a weak and uncertain President Obama…

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Independence wise Putin probably has more freedom from the Duma than Obama has from Congress. The problem is both Duma and Congress are staffed by alot of people interested in themselves and not better country or democracy. The term limit issue just downs alot of respect for Putin’s sense of democracy. It’s not like Putin cannot influence from the background at least. This authoritarianism is rather bold faced and not healthy.

Also when Putin or the Duma decided to remake Russia by ‘clamping down’ or driving underground the entertainments industry in Russia such as gambling and adult services, also the LGBT issues, Russia looked kinda worse for wear under Putin – why should anyone feel the need to clamp down on fun or self expression in sexuality?

Putin’s probably a great guy if he didn’t influence (or allow the Duma) to influence policy by holding power like that (to be more statesmanlike, even if after relinquishing all posts, Putin could still realize whatever vision Putin has for Russia. This points to a Duma that has their own ideas causing Putin to want to violate 2nd term limits which typify the best nations in the world.

Obama could try to communicate this aspect of democracy – but probably won’t because Obama’s head is spinning from all that bombardment of personal interest types much less mention TERM limitless Senate and Congress etc.. Both sides have severe structural problems but USA’s probably is healthier for the 99%, and the 99% are what the country is, not the people at the top. Russia’s a little grimmer though unofficially Russians probably should still be able to have fun, but without the law behind the above banned entertainments, whats the point?

Big win: Miss Large Beauty winner, Vered Fisher, centre, stands on stage at the end of the Fat and Beautiful contest held in the southern Israeli town of Beersheva on Monday

Preparations underway: Models have their make-up done backstage

Esterica Nagid, a modelling agent who has sponsored the ‘Fat and Beautiful’ pageant for 20 years, said fat is beautiful too

Gearing up: A contestant prepares to stalk the catwalk at the Fat and Beautiful pageant, which is into its 20th consecutive year

After a succession of rounds, Israel crowned its new plus-sized beauty queen.

Weighing in at 110 kilograms (17st 3lbs), Vered Fisher, 22, won first prize and was crowned Israel’s Fat and Beautiful queen.

Fisher, who served in the intelligence unit in the Israeli army, walked down the catwalk in a packed hotel conference room alongside the other contestants, dressed in casual wear and evening gowns.

Esterica Nagid, a modelling agent who has sponsored the Fat and Beautiful pageant for the 20th consecutive year, said fat is beautiful too.

‘I want to show that there is no difference between skinny and fat. Nobody determined that only the skinny girls are beautiful.

‘I am not encouraging fat but if it exists and is aesthetic and pretty, then this is the place to express it,’ Nagid said.

The criteria, Nagid said, is to first and foremost be beautiful and to weigh between 80kg (12st 6lbs) to 120kg (18st 9lbs).

Fisher’s message, after being crowned, was for large ladies to be proud of their size.

‘Stay this way because you are pretty as you are and you can succeed as you are,’ Fisher said.

Nerves: The contestants look apprehensive as they await their moment in the spotlight

Striking a pose: Four contestants proudly display their curves

Who says you have to be skinny to be beautiful? Fat and Beautiful pageant entrants believe bigger is best

‘I am not encouraging fat but if it exists and is aesthetic and pretty, then this is the place to express it,’ the pageant sponsor said

Open mind: ‘I am not encouraging fat but if it exists and is aesthetic and pretty, then this is the place to express it,’ the pageant sponsor said

Dressed up: The girls took part in both a casual round and an evening wear round

On the catwalk: The girls took part in both a casual round and an evening wear round where they had to parade on a runway in front of judges

Glam up: The girls prepare to strut their stuff backstage

Weighing in: The criteria, the organisers said, is to first and foremost be beautiful, and to weigh between 80kg (12st 6lbs) and 120kg (18st 9lbs

It’s showtime: The girls gather in the wings before taking their turn on the stage

Big moment: The girls put the finishing touches to their outfits before taking heading on stage to fight for the Miss Large crown

Dressed to impress: The pageant has a casual and an eveningwear round, but unlike Miss World, has no swimwear or sportswear segments

Inspiring words: ‘Stay this way because you are pretty as you are and you can succeed as you are,’ the organisers insist

Commentator comments :

so the thing is, yes, generally

– rennee, word, 20/6/2012 16:22
Rating (0)

‘fattening up’ ? You may as well just write ‘free heart attack if you win’!!! It’s unhealthy and these type of shows cannot Go on! They are as damaging to your body as the size zero models! Proud of being overweight? No thanks!

I don’t understand why its only extreme’s represented in these types of things. Its either extremely underweight or those that are overweight, where are the size 8-12 girls represented?! As a size 10 with hips i can’t find anywhere i’m represented on catwalks or pageants like this.

– Leanne, Wales, 20/6/2012 16:08
Rating 1

A buch of lightweights compared to Bangkok’s Jumbo Queens! They are a sort of dance troupe often to be seen at exhibitions and expo’s etc, They are really funny.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but relative health is less subjective. most of the ladies pictured are well outside health body weight ranges. fortunately most women would loath to be in this state. sadly for the wrong reasons, especially the young and impressionable ones, focused instead on some strange definition of beauty, often put forth by the fashion industry, which oddly enough is run by gay men. perhaps this is why their definition of beauty is ill matched to a healthy female body. nothing sinister, just that women don’t often naturally look like skinny boys. focus on being healthy and you will look beautiful to the vast majority of people, though perhaps not to gay fashion designers. a fair trade off.

– dman, vancouver, 20/6/2012 16:01
Rating 1

No. 20 and No. 9 aren’t even fat ????

– Pig, The Piggery, 20/6/2012 15:43
Rating 5

Unhealthy!

– Soph, UK, 20/6/2012 15:35
Rating 7

I’ve got no objection to tis, except why are they all so badly dressed? The clothes are so cheap and nasty looking.

– Alisson, London, UK, 20/6/2012 15:26
Rating 28

Errrrr no, between 12 and 18 stone Jesus ! These lasses have not sean 12 stone since they were a very young child, they are 16 -20 stone morbidly obese, and not very beautiful. These people are a disgrace to our species.

– Dave, Preston, 20/6/2012 15:19
Rating 11

They all actually look like pigs, to all the fat women out there who try to run down slim girls for being skinny, LOOK AT THESE WOMEN, they look 30% human and 70% pig!!!!!! Some female models may be underweight but i dont see any that look like cross between a whale and a pig!!!

– My name a Borat, This a my country thankyou please, 20/6/2012 15:18

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The less uniform, the more diverse, the more equally treated, with proper spaces assigned, the better the world.

Big really IS beautiful! – TO SOME PEOPLE. Please remember diversity and don’t disenfranchise everyone else with a statement like that. Plenty of beanpoles would be offended, not that the same should be ‘REALLY is beautiful’ either. That is for the beholder to exclaim, not the online mag to EXCLAIM FOR readers.

It reaches up to speeds of 290kmh on land and 72kmh in water. And at a bargain-basement price of US$295,500 (S$374,600) in the United States, the world’s first amphibious sports car could be yours.

For those who have always fantasized of driving on land and sea, this car is a dream come true.

Inventor Marc Witt spent six years turning his dream sports car into a sea-worthy vehicle and this brushed aluminum and stainless steel car-boat hybrid is finally up for sale at a California-based Fantasy Junction, where collector automobiles and vintage racing cars are sold.

Developed by a one-man operation, Sea Lion is powered by a 174-horsepower 13B rotary engine pulled from a 1974 Mazda RX3 and designed with a body which could function as a road-vehicle, yet also be waterproof when it hits the lakes or sea.

When Witt first started building the car, he aimed to reach 96kmh, which is now the water-record speed set by an amphibious car among competitors, although there is no official body to rule on this.

According to the listing, there has been talk of creating a corporate event, similar to Burning Man or Kinetic Sculpture Race, which records and awards competitors with specific acknowledgements.

“This, however, may be more of a detriment than assistance. The addition of rules and requirements always diminish scientific achievement and exploration. And it just plain ruins all the fun!” said the listing.

World record aside, Witt designed and built the entire vehicle with CAD and “spreadsheet calculations”. The gearing has been set to handle speeds of up to 288kmh.

With a flick of a switch, the car automatically converts itself from being road-worthy to sea-worthy.

The front wheels are hydraulically moved into wheel wells once the car ventures into water with a massive spoiler in front to split through the waves.

However, the Sea Lion is a single-seater, so you can’t bring friends on a spin in water.

Writing on Fantasy Junction, Witt said: “Building Sea Lion has been an enjoyable exploration. I have provided the basic architecture for the car and resolved every conflicting interaction between car and boat.

“The next chapter of this project is to provide an ultimate engine and begin speed trials. There are many highly qualified rotary engine builders who have decades of experience making reliable high performance improvements.

“It is best to bring a specialist builder on board for the rest of this endeavor and bring the car up to its full potential.

Purchasing the Sea Lion also means that you get it modified by the inventor himself, as Witt wrote that he is willing to continue working with the buyer on all future modifications.

“I will remain available as a consultant, engineer, machinist and psychiatrist for whoever decides to venture further into the amphibious record books.”

-AsiaOne

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . and psychiatrist ? Out of context and a veiled threat to freedom of travel lovers that want to drive off the road and into the ocean seamlessly if anything. This is about convenience and freedom not sanity . . .

Consumers, wait for India or China to build the same at 10 times cheaper, no need to worry about psychiatrists too in those countries. That way you can buy 10 times as many or have spare parts to last 10 warranty periods worth . . .

ARTICLE 6

Papers cast doubt on C.Y. explanation : Clause in documentation suggests he may have known about illegal structures when he bought houses – Joyce Ng – Jun 26, 2012

Chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying might have been aware of the existence of illegal structures on his two houses on The Peak when he bought them, a clause in the sale and purchase agreement suggests.

According to a clause in the agreement, signed by Leung in 1999, he agreed to “waive and relinquish all [his] rights to raise any requisition on the state, condition and structure of the property … or on the existence of the internal partitions in, and additions and alterations to, the property (if any) whether [they] are illegal, unauthorised or otherwise”.

Ambrose Lam San-keung, a lawyer specialising in property transactions, said it was normal to put such a clause into a purchase agreement if a house was sold by auction or tender. In this case, it did not indicate whether vendor and purchaser were aware of illegal structures. However, if it was sold through other means, such as through an agent, or a private deal, there was a possibility both sides were aware of such infringements.

“It is usually the vendor, who is in a stronger bargaining position, that puts in the clause to forbid the buyer to claim any compensation or withdraw from the deal because of any illegal structures discovered in future,” Lam said.

It is unclear through what means Leung purchased the houses at No 4 Peel Rise. According to the Land Registry, he bought the two houses in 1999 for HK$66 million, directly from developer Housing Development.

Leung has claimed the structures were already in the houses when he bought them, and that the houses were occupied by the developer after they were built in 1992. A director for the developer, Robert Lau Siu-kit, declined to respond to enquiries. It is also uncertain if the houses were rented after the developer moved out and before being sold to Leung.

Grace Fung Sin-yu and Peter Lo Chi-lik, the lawyers who acted for the vendor and for Leung respectively, also declined to answer media inquiries.

Meanwhile, Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan restated yesterday that he would press for a debate on the scandal at tomorrow’s Legislative Council session and call for a vote of confidence soon on Leung.

Lau Kong-wah, a Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker, said his party would not support the vote. “I cannot accept Leung’s explanation that the unauthorised alterations stem from pure negligence. He needs to explain himself .”

joyce.ng@scmp.com

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Petty and inconsequential issue. Amend those laws immediately. Private property is sacrosanct, and should not be affected by outdated laws or used in this manner for political attacks. For some background on bad law writing or refusal to amend bad laws (or why this is happening to Leung), do read up on the link below :

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) may rail against Social Security insolvency in the public eye, but that hasn’t stopped him from accepting the government checks.

The libertarian-leaning Republican and former presidential candidate admitted Wednesday that he accepts Social Security checks just minutes after he called for younger generations to wean themselves off the program, in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I want young people to opt out of Social Security, but my goal isn’t to cut,” he said.

The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein then asked Paul, “A bit of a personal question — Are you on Social Security? Do you get social security checks?”

Paul admitted he does, stating, “[It’s] just as I use the post office, I use government highways, I use the banks, I use the federal reserve system. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t work to remove this in the same way on Social Security.”

Paul also said he still pays more into Social Security than he gets in his checks.

Paul is outspoken about the need to end government programs like the Federal Reserve and the departments of energy and education. But he said he would not eliminate programs like Social Security and Medicare, despite his belief that the programs are unconstitutional. He planned to allow citizens under the age of 25 to opt out of the system in order to save their own money for retirement, if elected to the presidency.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

How about Ron Paul remits with interest all the checques he has received directly back into the system instead of hanging on to that backlog of cash – so that there will be no ethical or voter base fallout? Practise what you preach . . .

ARTICLE 8

New Program Teaches Border Agents to Flee and Hide When Confronted – posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 11:39 AM

It’s an Obama world.
A new program is teaching US border agents to run, hide and call for help when they are confronted by a shooter.
Conservative Observer reported this from the local 2544 website:

In another nauseating series of “Virtual Learning Center” brainwashing courses that Border Patrol agents are forced to sit behind a computer for hours and endure, we are now taught in an “Active Shooter” course that if we encounter a shooter in a public place we are to “run away” and “hide”. If we are cornered by such a shooter we are to (only as a last resort) become “aggressive” and “throw things” at him or her. We are then advised to “call law enforcement” and wait for their arrival (presumably, while more innocent victims are slaughtered). Shooting incidents cited in the course are Columbine, the Giffords shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting.

These types of mandatory brainwashing courses and the idiocy that accompanies them are simply stunning when they are force-fed to law enforcement officers. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that any three of the above shootings would have been stopped cold by an off-duty law enforcement officer or a law abiding citizen with a gun. The Fort Hood shooting would have been stopped cold by someone with a gun as well. The shooters in these situations depend on unarmed and scared victims. It gives them the power they seek. We could go on and on with examples of shootings that could have been stopped by someone with a firearm. One of the videos in this course actually shows a terrified female hiding behind a desk as an example of how to “hide” from some deranged shooter.

Multiple quizzes throughout the course and a final test ensure repeatedly that we know that we only have three options when encountering some murderous thug in a public place. 1. Run away; 2. Hide; and 3. Only put up a fight as a last resort by acting aggressively and throwing things at the shooter. Not one mention anywhere of “if you are carrying a gun and you have the opportunity take the shooter out”.

Calling 911 in these instances is obvious, but we all know that waiting on the arrival of uniformed law enforcement will ensure more people are killed, injured, or taken hostage. Telling law enforcement officers that in all instances they are to run away and hide from some thug while innocent victims are butchered is simply inexcusable and pathetic.

How about some non-lethal weapons like highly viscuous non-poisonous glue guns (hand sized globs at the face are less harmful than pepper spray or chemical spray, with beach ball sized globs that can be aimed at the legs to immobilize, oil filled condoms thrown by bazooka like weapons at range to make running impossible, slip up the robbers etc..), net guns or other non-lethal stuff. To capture alive your assailant shooters will be a sign of skill. Tasers btw are almost a death sentence. Conversely, the same non-lethality is also recommended to criminals who don’t need to murder. These sorts of ammo and weapons are relatively harmless, can be used with impunity and can get the job done.

This form of urban de-escalation should be backed with some method of getting back at people attacking, with dangerous weapons WITH the reasons that cause criminality in mind – wealth distribution and sequestration, extreme Capitalism without controls that lead to ‘Occupy’ or street riots.

Meanwhile use of hand to hand martial arts by *fit and healthy* enforcement etc.. should be the main paradigm. Rather than the fat pig cops shooting back lethal weapons partly also because they are not fit enough to fight or run (Obama got this one right, no more lethal arms or trigger happy attitudes) from a range, we could have the above disabling weapons or highly skilled types hand to hand. This is not Matrix inspired but pain is REAL and unnecessary if the boffins would develop ‘Sticky Bullets and Glue Mortars’ (have fun with the innuendo . . . Bukk—) . . . so even people getting robbed would just need a shower rather than being killed. Cornstarch with the consistency of taffy anyone? In your face! And yes d*cks are the solution to near everything . . .

At the same time though, the stand on right to bear arms stands! You can openly carry and even harmlessly discharge, but just remember that incidental or accidental destruction of property, injuries and deaths will be penalized accordingly . . . below are some paragraph that could be included into the 2nd Amendment . . .

Hidden weapons (like disguised or hidden sword and gun – canes/watches/handbags/shoes), any persons who do carry hidden weapons could be required to install something on their handphone or be required to be licensed by the seller (who will hand details to enforcement, carry a transmitter that is activated (communicating to a reasonably short radius – we do not need beacons spanning miles for this – to any police or intelligence persons locally in the area should suffice) when the safety goes off or the weapon is unsheathed.

Unlike the open carry persons who effectively declare that they have a weapon and need no transmitters to warn others, this form of ‘disclosure’ (which should include local community licensing as well as communicaion to airports etc. so there will be no problems transporting) of hidden weapons carrying people will be the best way to retain civil society WHILE ensuring social freedoms. This is the trade off or penalty, for holding hidden weapons. Open carry weapons types are in fact also aware they are using weapons, and in fact are forthright enough to not worry about people seeing them carry weapons, they do not intend to do anything criminal but do want 2nd amendment rights.

i) all hospital and loss of work expenses if person accidentally hit
ii) a right to strike back or to ask anothere to strike on behalf – equitably – is granted the victim (eye for eye should discourage attacks by most sane people)
iii) do not recommend prison (enriches the prison contractors)
iv) do not recommend fine which enriches the state, the issue is between 2 persons in the private sector, NOT for the state to enrich off people’s troubles but the state is needed as witness and judge AT as low cost as possible
v) in the case of death, any relative may be given right to deal death in similar manner
vi) repair replacement of property if damaged destroyed

In some cases private assisted suicide WITH WEAPONS, may be required so proper documents absolving the ‘assistant’, or suicide alone, in front of a panel of APPROPRIATE professional state witnesses should also be legal. That life belongs to the individual, NOT the state. The state is here to be witness and to legislate, not profiteer. As such actions might offend those alive, laws might make the above an offense in public venues as such actions ’cause alarm’ but in private or isolated venues, will be legal. Clean up of bloodstains etc. is the responsibility of all living parties involved. Any subsequent alarm from lack of clean up, will be penalised appropriately (typically an apology to alarmed persons and a second clean up overseen by enforcement will do). Democracy is not mob rule and minority of 1 is democracy.

SINGAPORE – Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen reiterated that sons of permanent residents (PRs) have to complete national service (NS) in order to keep PR status.

Speaking to the Straits Times, Minister Ng said that first-generation PRs are exempted from NS, but have to be aware that their sons have to do complete the duty if they apply for PR status for their children.

Addressing concerns about NS-liable PRs renouncing their residency before serving NS, Dr Ng added that second-generation PRs face harsh penalties if they choose not to fulfill their two years and give up their PR status.

Minister Ng’s comments come as an ongoing debate takes place about the need for more punitive measures to make second-generation PRs serve the military stint, including imposing a security bond on their parents, to be forfeited if the sons do not go through NS.

Dr Ng said that current measures in place are already harsher than that.

According to Colonel Kenneth Liow, second-generation PRs’ failure to serve NS will be taken into account when they apply to study or work in Singapore in the future, said in a letter to The Straits Times forum.

Minister Ng also said that he received letter letters from families who say they have been separated because NS-liable PRs chose not to complete their duty.

Dr Ng, however, pointed out that Singapore has to enforce the NS policy to send a clear signal that NS duty must be fulfilled, despite the difficulties.

dassa@sph.com.sg

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Must be fulfilled? NS is a human rights abuse that cannot be fairly applied on anyone. Citizenship to a nation is a right, to refuse military conscription a HUMAN RIGHT and privilege of all sentient beings, sapient beings. Singapore is an undemocratic failure that need to be taught a lesson by the citizens. If all citizens in Singapore vote to remove nepotists and end the NS system, there is nothing anyone can say MUST about. The human right to ABSTAIN from military service can be upheld. Only a matter of time before the densest of citizens realize this and file a lawsuit against MINDEF for rights to REFUSE NS. Conversely if a minority wanted NS even if the majority refused, the same would apply with that minority entitled to any reasonable state funding for their military proclivity ( . . . bunch of ‘Klingons‘, but still their right – even as they have no right to force others to be ‘Klingons‘ . . . ).

Even if majority of citizens wanted NS, the minority that refuseshas a right to not be forced or subject to punitive treatment for the RIGHT TO REFUSE. This is the essence of democracy, the essence of civilisation and mercy of religion, that Gandhi’s ‘minority of one rule’ also esconces, that shows civilisation instead of punitive mob mindedness through writing of inconsiderate laws that force upon others values (in this case militarized values) and religious belief systems which are unjustifiable for first world implementation upon all and sundry though selective and consensual one -on-one basis submissions to the ‘unreason’ of the faith requirement may be posssible.

This dictatorship minded mentality is a symbol of 3rd world countries. This MUST DO NS attitude is a blight on HUMAN RIGHTS that UN should condemn. EVEN RED SOVIET RUSSIA IS ABOLISHING FORCED CONSCRIPTIONS. See below link on Russia being more socially enlightened than Singapore :

Even Putin is a nicer guy than this Minister Mentor creep in this issue! Singapore has good media.propaganda machinery, but FACTS are FACTS and spin is but spin. ALL FREE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO STATE RETALIATION FOR THEIR RIGHT TO ABSTAIN FROM FORCED MILITARY CONSCRIPTION.

With enough people leaving the military, the parasite contractor-supplier paradigm for military, the parasite Industrial-Military Complex, and even wars around the world will end. Only the junta minded will force peoples of any free nation (or even planet) to militarise against their will or be subject to retaliatory treatment for demanding abstention clauses or a right to not attend. More Singaporean junta mindedness in the below article.

European Partnership for Peace members and those with Individual Partnership Action Programs and Membership Action Plans in addition – Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Malta, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine – “have restructured their armed forces” as a prerequisite for NATO integration. That is, they have been “professionalized” by abolishing conscription and shifting their mandate from territorial defense to expeditionary deployments abroad and transitioning from domestic and often Russian armaments to Western ones.

Both ‘superpowers’ and largest military blocs in the world have abolished forced conscription. The best soldiers incidentally are those who VOLUNTEER (A Sultan who has yet to make clear on apartheid did at least speak on the ‘Spirit of Volunteerism . . . one wonders if said Sultan would throw that weight of ethos at Malaysia’s own Forced Conscription system as well too?’ . . . rather than are forcibly conscripted under threat of jail terms of fines, which in all moral and ethical consideration is quite barbaric and uncivilised as well. Shame on Singapore’s and all other forced conscription ‘policied’ 3rd world junta minded and nepotistic mentality!

ARTICLE 10

Ex-MOE teacher recalls ‘dehumanizing’ experiences of trainee teachers

I have seen one attempted suicide during my stint in NIE. Very few people are aware about the dehumanizing experience of being a trainee teachers, especially during practicum.

During my practicum many years back, I was forced to write at least 16 pages of lesson plan each day. Many of my classmates have gone through the same thing. That is to say, you have 1.5 hours for each page of lesson plan provided if you stay awake for 24 hours everyday. I have heard horror stories of even much worst practicum supervisors.

Very often, a practicum students are taken by HODs, who use them to reduce their already very little teaching hours. HODs are generally the more noxious staffs in a school. They will use whatever ways to put somebody down. My HOD taught 4 hours a week after he has given me his class. His monthly salary is close to $10,000. So that make his hourly rate $625.

MOE is atrocious enough to know that many people will quit given the system sucks big time. So every teachers are indentured to MOE for 3 years. If you break bond right after you complete NIE, most likely the penalties today is greater than $50,000 if you are a graduate. A few NIE students may find despair and hopeless given the above obligations. This may be a significant reason trainee teachers choose suicide.

The HOD can fail someone with no reasons at all. I knew people who failed even after interventions by NIE supervisor and school co-supervisor. Of course, HOD will pull in the support equally noxious principal or vice-principal, who will collude willingly. Going back to NIE after practicum, those who have failed will meet a certain “A” (years back). Officially she is supposed to understand what is going wrong. Actually, the meeting with her is a sickening rebuke where she will sing praise of the whole system and put all failed candidate down, even if everyone know there is serious institutional problem in MOE.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Some of us studied in the Singapore system. The system is an actionable joke that leaves many bad feelings for Singapore. The below list is applicable to 1980s-90s only. We never looked back . . .

There were ‘protected and pre-scripted kids of the ‘civil junta”, extreme canings by teachers that leave bruises that take weeks to heal, stage shamings, very likely closeted paedophiles, intolerance for LGBT, gangsterism, teachers putting on a big show for god knows what purposes, teachers that THREW STAPLERS (not staples but STAPLERS) and fist sized wooden chalk dusters, teachers that were there for salaries not because they liked children (in the right manner), that were ex-cops but acted or projected a sense of being like gangsters (suffice to say both police and gangster might have links or are beholden to PAP . . . ), and others lording over the children than educating or helping them become better people, with manipulative, parasitic and predatory behaviour throughout, littered with abusive treatment of impressionable children barely in their tweens even by pre-scripted fellow students in the PAP junta families.

If you value your child’s well being, do not enroll in the Asian public school system – ESPECIALLY Singapore’s. I did not attend Singapore’s NS, but heard that people could have been INTENTIONALLY injured ‘accidentally’ by ‘junta families’, and hazing incidents of various sorts designed to ‘teach’ submission to the system. Truly Asia. Then think nepotism and limitless terms in government alongside institutionalised racism on all sides . . . the above HOD issue is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg about Singapore’s patchwork system of abuses.

Anyone up for a lawsuit against the Singapore Education system? Do tell me, plenty of unresolved trauma needs to be corrected and exposed while bloated personalities award themselves millions in salaries and create fatuous posts paid for by the tax payer . . . If you want to raise a vicious minded brute, do send your kid to Singapore, there are none skimming more the limits of legality, none more barbaric than the Singaporean Junta minded militarists and the pathological, TERM LIMITLESS Lee Oligarch Family Bloc . . .

ARTICLE 12

Obama’s Key Health Reforms Hang In Balance : The fate of Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul could have a major impact on this year’s Presidential election. – 2:23pm UK, Monday 25 June 2012 – by Dominic Waghorn, US correspondent

Barack Obama’s signature achievement, a law-reforming healthcare in America, hangs in the balance with a Supreme Court decision on its fate due this week.

The Affordable Care Act, known as ‘Obamacare’ to its opponents, had two central aims – to reduce rocketing healthcare costs and expand the number of people with health insurance.

Ron Pollak, from US health advocacy, says the fact that as many as 50 million Americans have no health insurance is extraordinary.

“We pay more for healthcare as a nation by far than any other country in the world and yet one sixth of our nation doesn’t have health coverage,” he said.

“In the Western world, how can you explain this?”

America’s healthcare system is notoriously dysfunctional. While it delivers excellent care to those who can afford it, many have been left out, including many of the poor and the chronically ill.

The ACA was designed to address many of those issues. But it was challenged by Republican opponents, at first in public meetings, then in Congress where intense wrangling watered down some of its key provisions.

Its opponents then took their battle to the courts. They say the reforms are unconstitutional because they force Americans who can afford health insurance to have health insurance.

Two years ago, few legal scholars believed that challenge would be taken seriously but that has changed.

The tone of questioning by some of the more conservative justices led many observers to believe the reforms may be in trouble.

Ron Pollack told Sky News he fears politics is now guiding America’s highest court more than the law.

“If this case is decided on a five to four partisan line, I think it undermines the confidence the public has about the Supreme Court as an objective arbiter of difficult legal decisions,” he said.

The Supreme Court could strike down the whole law, though that is thought highly unlikely. Many of the reforms are likely to survive but some fundamental elements are thought vulnerable to removal by justices.

Legal and health experts differ on how fatal a blow that would deal the reforms as a whole.

If the Supreme Court does knock the heart out of the law, it will be a stunning reversal for Mr Obama and a huge blow for the tens of millions without health insurance.

He says he has no plan B and his Republican rivals seem to have no substantial alternative either.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Refine the most contentious sections that are NOT profit oriented but rather people oriented. Also opt-outs for any who choose to not be part of ‘Obamacare’ or any insurance system. No penalties for those who do not want to be part of the sysytem. Conversely, states that pull out will also have to ensure individuals who do want ‘Obamacare’ will have access to ‘Obamacare’. Perhaps only 1% of the yearly salary could be ‘penalized’, BUT only upon those who earn 50K and above?

MAY 12 — As widely expected, Tunku Abdul Aziz’s senatorship was not extended by the DAP.

As if that is not enough, he also finds himself coming under scornful assaults and branded a traitor. The disciplinary committee demanded an explanation from him, and some in the party wanted him removed.

Tunku Abdul Aziz joined the DAP three years ago in the midst of widespread cheers, making him the highest positioned and most reputed Malay member the DAP had had since its inception.

He was offered the party’s vice-presidency, and thanks to his popularity, the party experienced unprecedented metamorphosis to become a truly multiracial entity.

The cold treatment accorded to him has stemmed solely from his dissident views on the Berish 3.0 rally.

I have no intention of getting myself embroiled in the rally controversy any more. All that has come to my mind is a story I have read some time ago.

John Milton was a 17th-century English writer, second probably only to William Shakespeare in literary supremacy. His time-honoured epic “Paradise Lost” underscored the fall of humanity in the pursuit of freedom, quoting the chapter in Genesis where Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.

In “Paradise Lost” there are the Heaven, the Hades; the Angels, the Satan; the Darkness, the Light; the Exaltation, the Decadence.

Wasn’t the April 28 rally a vivid reflection of “Paradise Lost”?

Milton had his own real-life experiences.

He met, fell for and later married 15-year-old Mary Powell at the age of 32.

After their marriage, he discovered they could not actually get along well. His young wife went back to her mother’s house, not returning for the following three years.

He wanted to put an end to the dysfunctional marriage, but was barred from doing so by the Church then.

Out of desperation he penned the famous Divorce Tracts, declaring true matrimony to be a marriage of body and mind, but if the body and mind have become dissociated, people should no longer be bonded by the covenant of marriage as this would contravene human nature and the will of freedom.

As such, he said, everyone should be entitled to the freedom of divorce.

His doctrine could possibly be accepted by people today, but not three centuries ago.

He was suppressed and locked up for his heretical thinking.

Milton was least subdued, instead his ordeal energised him to think profoundly about the true meaning of freedom. In the “Areopagitica” he later published, he proposed the theory of self-rectification of truth, arguing that only with the freedom of speech would truth become more explicit with arguments. The so-called “truth” that has been erected through oppression would never be able to pass the test of time and become the real truth.

At the same time, Milton also advocated the freedom of thought, declaring that no one — be it a regime, political party or individual — has the privilege of scrutinising a person’s freedom of speech or thought on condition it does not pose any harm to other people.

Milton’s freedom of speech has since become the harbinger of democratic politics.

Like anyone else in this world, Tunku Abdul Aziz is entitled to the freedom of speech, and the DAP’s action against him only attests to the democratic qualities and bearings this party holds. — mysinchew.com

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Look here, Tay Tianyan, ingenuously fetting DAP’s lack of democracy as democracy! No honest political party will dare to fire anyone for speaking freely. I am very sorry that I ever fetted DAP in the past at all, and realise that nepotistic and term limitless DAP is as bad as, if not worse than BN and BN’s lapdogs. Shame on you Tay Tian Yan for being a blind propagandist without ethics! DAP is a political party that shold be wiped off the map of Malaysia and the world. Anywhere there are people who think and behave like the Lim Kit Siang and Karpal SIngh led party need to be barred for politics. They are self serving political animals in human guise and Tay Tianyan as well. Little wonder the apartheid state of the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia. Neither DAP nor MCA nor MIC have ever spoken against apartheid prioritising their own political safety first. I recommend that all voters vote for 3rd Force parties instead/

How about Tunku lead the 3rd Force and drop these bunch of unethical nepotistic and uninclusive Pakatan losers who steal and parrot ideas instead of giving credit where is due. Have at Pakatan! And BN is an apartheid party so corrupt that the Human Rights Council should be shamed for allowing Malaysia to be a member of the Human Rights panel. Idiot politicians! 3rd Force when are you making your move? get together at some stupid venue and start organising yourselves, we had enough of the term limitless, nepotistic family blocs and selfishness of Pakatan and the racism and corruption of BN!

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Lim Kit Siang accused Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein of “spreading lies” after the home minister alleged that some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths to occur at the April 28 Bersih rally.

The DAP parliamentary leader pointed out that the Umno vice president had dismissed on April 19 the planned sit-in for free and fair elections, saying it was not a security threat and had little traction with the public.

“I urge Hishammuddin to stop spreading lies and falsehoods about Bersih 3.0 as his allegation that some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths is most wild, irresponsible and deplorable.

“If Hishamuddin received ‘intelligence’ that there were ‘some parties’ who wanted serious injuries and deaths to occur at Bersih 3.0, he was then seriously remiss and negligent in his duties as home minister when he publicly declared that Bersih 3.0 rally posed no ‘security threat’,” the Ipoh Timor MP said.

Hishammuddin told students earlier today that his biggest fear ahead of the April 28 rally for free and fair elections was the possibility of serious injuries and fatalities. “I was relieved there were none. But there were some parties who wanted that to happen,” he said over lunch at Sunway Hotel here.

Lim (picture) also said in a press statement that Datuk Seri Najib Razak must also be asked if he had received ‘intelligence’ to back the prime minister’s claim that Bersih 3.0 was an attempted coup d’etat to topple the government.

“Or was the ‘intelligence’ about an attempted coup to topple the government, like Hishammudin’s latest allegation, purely political in nature, concocted after April 28 to enable the Barisan Nasional to demonise the Bersih 3.0 organisers and protestors?” he said.

He added that Putrajaya’s probe into violence during the Bersih rally must be in the form of a royal commission of inquiry instead of the proposed panel headed by Tun Hanif Omar as the former police chief had disqualified himself by making anti-Bersih statements.

The April 28 rally, which saw tens of thousands gather at six different locations before heading to Dataran Merdeka, was peaceful until about 2.30pm when Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan asked the crowd to disperse. But her call was not heard by most of the crowd who persisted around the historic square which the court had already barred to the public over the weekend.

Just before 3pm, some protestors breached the barricade surrounding the landmark, leading police to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons.

Police then continued to pursue the rally-goers down several streets amid chaotic scenes which saw violence from both sides over the next four hours.

Several dozen demonstrators have claimed that they were assaulted by groups of over 10 policemen at a time and visual evidence appears to back their claim but police also point to violence from rally-goers who also attacked a police car.

The police car then crashed into a building before some protestors flipped it on its side.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This looks like a libel lawsuit. Hisham should sue this creep to hell.

The two demonstrations, one by Perkasa outside Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s house, and the other by Ikhlas oustide Ambiga’s, of Bersih fame, mark a new low in Malaysian politics. The demonstrators, and their yellow backers in the corridors of BUMNO/BN, have appealed to the lowest common denominator among the worst in their ranks – racism, demagoguery and thuggery!

Given also that our law enforcers (not just the police, but also City Hall officials) stood by and did nothing to disperse these illegal gatherings, while at Bersih 3.0 they opened direct fire at crowds with tear gas and pepper-laced water without justifiable provocation, it’s clear what we have is a rogue regime that MUST be booted out at the next general elections, if we wish to preserve the sanctity of our democratic institutions.

Rogue regime

Why rogue regime? Because we have a Prime Minister (PM) who is implicated up to his eyeballs in the $7 billion Scorpene Submarine financial scandal (he was also the Defence Minister who signed the contracts) and who 5 years onwards, has not ordered the Inspector General of Police to investigate, identify and charge the person who gave the orders to murder Altantuya and blow up her body into bits and pieces with C4 plastics, generally available only to the Army, and perhaps, the Terrorist Squad of the Police. PM Najib has not done so despite the convicted murderers of Altantuya confessing to the police that they were offered $100,000 (by whom?) to carry out their heinous act!

This is not mere uncouth behaviour by Perkasa and Ikhlas. Their intention is to instill mafia-type fear through intimidation, thuggery and gangsterism! The gall of it, for Ikhlas to offer a hamburger to Ambiga who is a vegetarian. Imagine if Ambiga or Guan Eng had offered a pork bun to Ibrahim Ali. But that is a minor matter.

What is at issue is whether Perkasa and Ikhlas considered the fear and terror they would have instilled, not in Ambiga’s and Gua Eng’s hearts, for they are made of sterner stuff, but in the hearts of children and the elderly living in those homes and that of their innocent neighbours.

Yes, give Ibrahim Ali a pork bun and see what sort of reaction…

Of course Ikhlas and its petty traders will maintain that the Bersih 3.0 rally on 28th April 2012 caused them huge financial losses and they have their rights. Yes, they have their rights and no one disputes that. However, the courts are the rightful place to take their grievances to, not the homes of their perceived antagonists.

Frankly, I doubt these hamburger patty-mentality lackeys will dare open up their books to be audited independently by the courts to justify any claims.

Similarly, the Opposition in Penang – BUMNO/BN – were defeated in the State Asembly by the very same tactics and open and democratic procedures that they had employed from 1957-2007, when they were in power. Their allegations that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had cast slurs on BUMNO/BN by saying that more Hindu temples would be torn down if BUMNO/BN were in power, was not borne out by official Hansard transcripts of the debate in the State Assembly. That calls for an invasion of Guan Eng’s home and incantations of a death wish?

So, how do we read the situation?

It’s obvious they are being stirred up by other cravenly cowards and Nazi and Stalinistic elements within BUMNO/BN. Has the unelected mayor of KL who pontificated to Bersih 3.0 about laws and municipal by-laws or our unelected PM Najib or BUMNO/BN politicians and former IGP’s come out and publicly condemned these blatant and dangerously precedent setting invasions of an individual’s privacy, as they (wrongly) did with Bersih 3.0? They are playing with fire and when it’s they who get burnt, who shall they then lay the blame on?

They silently wish and pray Guan Eng, Ambiga, Bersih and Pakatan would all quietly disappear. Let me assure these pathetic troglodytes that all their pilgrimages and prayers will not deliver them victory because they represent pure, unadulterated evil against the might of Pakatan, Ambiga, Guan Eng et al who stand on the side of the righteous!

BUMNO/BN is also being shown up by the new State governments, in particular, Penang and Selangor, that where the leaders are incorruptible, desirable progress will naturally follow. So, it’s not surprising that the Pakatan states combined have attracted more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in four years than all the BUMNO/BN ruled States put together, and praised by the BUMNO/BN appointed Auditor General for that as well as for their transparency and accountability.

Now, that’s what you call real progress and achievement – when your are grudgingly congratulated by independent parties for your successes. BUMNO/BN leaders are too seduced by the bootlicking and scrotum tickling antics of its sycophantic and demanding ‘give me a billion ringgit contract’ supporters.

No second thought – just dump BN!

This is what grates on BUMNO/BN’s behind more than anything else, like sandpaper on rock. The Pakatan States have shown in four years what progress we could have achieved, had we not allowed ourselves to succumb to 32 years of financial mayhem and utter corruption and waste involving hundreds of billions of ringgit under the BUMNO/BN aegis.

And if this is the best they can do, by trying to frighten and intimidate the citizenry, then I say, bring it on. You will scare no one, because it is your own fear that motivates you, not any concern for truth, justice or democracy!

The lowest common denominator you appeal to – racism, demagoguery, religious bigotry and thuggery – will be contemptibly rejected by all right thinking citizens, without a second thought!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

@dontplaypuks wrote : ‘The lowest common denominator you appeal to – racism, demagoguery, religious bigotry and thuggery – will be contemptibly rejected by all right thinking citizens, without a second thought!’

Hey @dontplaypuks Guan Eng has just lowered himself to that very level by sending a pork bun to a Muslim. If Guan Eng were a gentleman Guan Eng would have prepared a delegation to the UN undeer the CM’s office to challenge APARTHEID. That Guan ENg prefers to send offensive food, makes Guan Eng little more than a sad clown that does not use the CM’s mandate to any good.

We don’t need this sort of leader like Guan Eng. File that lawsuit or send delegations to the UN, NAM or BRICS morons. Why do the Sultans put up with Guan Eng’s cockbaiting of a group like PERKASA? More b.s. that can lead to hegelian eclectic inspired ‘riots’ and then a freeze on social freedoms. Guan Eng is an idiot to play this sort of game. Ibrahim Ali, please take this a man to man insult and give Guan Eng what Guan Eng needs most. A good ass whacking with whatever food item Guan Eng hates.

But since Guan Eng eats sh1t cakes, PERKASA might have a hard time deciding which food item to use against Guan Eng. Serious leaders on all sides, please send that delegation to the UN to end apartheid.

This idiocy involving pork, Guan Eng and PERKASA is just too much of a tragic comedy and a waste of a CM’s mandate. Nepotism and limitless terms breeds char siew bao sending idiocy that does not end the lack of . . .

GTFO of the Dewan you nepotist! Who voted you CM? Your term limitless father? How many Penangites want Guan Eng as CM? 1% of the DAP CC? If PERKASA kicks Guan Eng’s a$$ literally, none would blink an eyelid. CONTACT UN, CONTACT NAM – END APARTHEID.

What an **IDIOT** CM Guan Eng is!

ARTICLE 4

‘Funeral’ for Guan Eng and burger stall for Ambiga: THIS IS UMNO-BN! – Written by YM CM Lim Guan Eng – Friday, 11 May 2012 12:48

DAP condemns the “burger protest” by pro-BN and anti-Bersih supporters, which set up an illegal burger stall outside Bersih co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan’s house to protest against their claims of purported loss of income suffered due to the Bersih 3.0 rally on 28 April 2012.

Is rule of law in Malaysia now replaced by rule of the jungle?

I fail to understand how DBKL can allow a burger stall to be set up outside a private residence with impunity in Kuala Lumpur?

By failing to act against the “burger protest” set up illegally outside Datuk Ambiga’s house, BN and DBKL is subjecting her to undue harrassment, intimidation and invasion of privacy. Will DBKL allow a similar protest outside the private home of Ministers or the DBKL’s Mayor residence?

Such an act of harrassment, intimidation and invasion of privacy has no place in our peaceful country, where Malaysians live together in mutual harmony and respect.

Moreover, the symbolic act of setting up burger stalls and cooking meat as a protest outside Ambiga’s home is extremely disrespectful considering that the former Bar Council president is a vegetarian.

As Ambiga herself noted yesterday, such acts have “never happened in Malaysia, except to Lim Guan Eng. Now Lim Guan Eng and I have had our homes violated.”

Funeral rite

Yesterday, my own family’s privacy was invaded by a group of Perkasa members who performed a “funeral rite” intruding on my private space, by placing on my gate a garland of flowers over a framed photo of me to signify my “death”.

Clearly this is the first time that such a death “wish” or death “threat” is made against a Chief Minister. What is equally clear is that the police present were indifferent and did not stop the Perkasa members from violating my private space.

It is the right of every Malaysian to be able to protest his or her own issues, but to do so by intruding into personal space and invading the privacy of family homes or wishing for the death of anyone is utterly vile, completely disrespectful and contrary to the basic tenets of democracy.

DAP calls on BN and DBKL to immediately remove the stall outside Datuk Ambiga’s home as a mark of respect towards not only to democracy and rule of law but to establish and uphold civil society.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I’d say open up underwear shops and a karang guni or shoe repair as well. Throw in a toddy seller and butcher for good measure as well – just for not speaking on APARTHEID as well as for dumping on rightful MB of Perak Nizar when Ambiga was Bar Council President.

Bersih fails, nothing was achieved! All that limelight and all Ambiga does is flounder like an unknown blogger with no friends! We don’t need this sort of leader like Ambiga. File that lawsuit or send delegations to the UN, NAM or BRICS to END APARTHEID moron.

What the hell is Lim Guan Eng arguing about a burger stall or respect when Lim Guan Eng should be demanding the END OF APARTHEID? People are earning their liveihood and all DAP wants is to destroy their livelihood or fine people who build awnings and write false news. END APARTHEID! Or give over that CM’s post!

Because if Abdul doesn’t, some Bar Council member might want to demand that foreign University which granted any a degree to have that same degree removed for being a supporter of APARTHEID. But true, marching is stupid. File lawsuits, more so the Bar Council!!!

‘The rest either left the venue before the event ended or did not take part in the vote.’

File lawsuits against the Bar Council committee instead of ‘leaving without voting’! Leaving without voting is irresponsible. In fact a simple 14,000+ letters sent to all members of the Bar Council that will be legally actionable not to respond to should be applied for every single quorum. The 900+ people who voted DO NOT COUNT as they are less than 10% of the Bar! Isn’t there a mailing department the Bar Council could use to send a YES/NO/’Other-pls-state’ form to these 14,000 ‘ponteng’ lawyers or at least ensure 66.6% voted? No need to set up a ‘Bar Academy’ at cost to the Rakyat (more contractor collusion). A simple change in the Bar Council constitution about this sort of mandatory vote (2 week response time at least?) and even mandatory attendance of yearly EGM should be applied. We can’t have this sort of ‘ponteng vote’ or ‘ponteng EGM’ behaviour so that justified waste of tax monies in settying up ‘Bar Academies’ can be tabled in Dewan. Disappointing to know only 900+ out of 14,000 were reacheable! These are the people who write our laws? No wonder Malaysia is getting from bad to worse.

(Malaysiakini) – PAS Ulama chief Harun Taib has said that amending the federal constitution to implement hudud will be its priority even if it means changing political partners, according to a New Straits Times report today.

“We will implement hudud and amend the constitution even if (it is) not with the current partners we have in Pakatan (Rakyat)… Maybe there will be other pacts that will lend us their support,” he was quoted as saying.

However, he did not name the non-Pakatan political parties, if any, which are in favour of hudud.

Harun added that as a party that champions Islam, it must do what is required by the religion, said the report.

According to the daily, Harun added that the implementation of hudud was inevitable should PAS win more seats than its Pakatan Rakyat partners.

“(PAS president) Hadi’s statement on hudud implementation and amending the constitution were done in his capacity as PAS president and they reflected PAS’ aspiration if the opposition wins the general election.”

The comments was in reaction to DAP chairperson Karpal Singh’s criticism of Hadi Awang who had allegedly said the party intends to incorporate hudud as a way of life in the federal constitution.

“I think whether it is against the constitution or not is just his (Karpal’s) personal opinion,” he said.

However, Hadi has denied making the statement.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Hudud is apartheid against fellow Malays USING Islam. PAS surely cannot be insisting on COMPULSION which is illegal in Islam! Case by case assent via signed agreements is reaqsonable but by the UNHCR no imposition of Hudud even on Malays is legal. PAS cannot do that without breaking some international treaties which Malaysia is a signmatory of. What IS PAS doing? Why is DAP silent like the grave (no pun intended, though 750K for a single PM and 120K for the same CM’s wife, is not worth selling out the entire minority to ignore ending APARTHEID for.)? Pakatan is a rubbish political party whenever this sort of thing happens. Is PAS trying to get Malaysia kicked out of the Human Rights Council? 3rd Force is the best choice!

As mentioned elsewhere, Hudud can only be applied on a case by case person by person acceptance. This is illegal and should be challenged by democratic Islamic scholars as ‘there can be no compulsion in religion‘ (Quran verse, Al Bakara 2:16). Such fatwas will be issued in a manner that compels. Islam if used as a political tool of control will damn any who do not follow the spirit of the Quran.

The Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee says the former IGP disqualified himself by calling some of the Bersih 3.0 protesters communists.

(Free Malaysia Today) – The Bar Council said former Inspector General of Police Hanif Omar is not suitable to head the independent panel to probe the violence that took place during the Bersih 3.0 rally.

Speaking at a press conference after chairing the Bar Council’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today, its president Lim Chee Wee said Hanif had disqualified himself by taking a stand against Bersih 3.0 earlier.

“It’s unfortunate that the former IGP had referred to some of the protesters as communists,” he added.

On April 28, tens of thousands marched in the nation’s capital but the rally was marred with reports of police assaulting scores of protesters and journalists.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced the formation of the six-member panel on Wednesday with Hanif heading the investigation team.

However, Hanif had reportedly told the media earlier that some of the demonstrators were communists as he claimed to recognise their faces.

Meanwhile, Lim said he was disappointed when Hanif had alleged that the rally was aimed at overthrowing the government.

“In my view, panel member Steve Sim (former Sabah and Sarawak chief justice) is more qualified to head the panel,” he added.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

What does attacking Hanif Omar do? NOTHING. Attacking a mere Hanif Omar is a sign of pettiness (also a Freudian slip of sorts, cult of prsonality vs. cult of personality indicating prioritsation of ego rather than actual democratic issues) when Bar Council Presidemt Lim Chee Wee could attack the lack of :

;via a formal delegation to UN, NAM, BRICS or even Sunnite Islam’s highest authority, the Al-Azhar Uni at Cairo. The above piece is a sure sign that Lim Chee Wee is NOT Bar Council President material at all, lack of logos but probably quite political minded () rther than impartial. Any blogger full of pathos could attack Hanif Omar or any VIP. Use that undeserved Bar Council Presidnet’s ethos or GTFO of the Bar Council Committee! Bar Council fails with sheer inability to even comprehend rhetoric, much less address DEMOCRACY to at least know the APARTHEID Bar Council President Lim Chee Wee being a minority now lives in! Pitiful and a waste of Bar Council’s mandate! No ‘Justice Baos‘ here, just ‘Char Siew Bao‘ level lawyers unable to address APARTHEID as above suggested but well able to argue about Burger Stalls and defending people like Ambiga who took out rightful MB of Pahang Nizar while in power as former President of Bar Council !

What kind of legal training did these characters receive? ‘Kopi’ degree is it? CONTACT UN, CONTACT NAM – END APARTHEID. One more word about Burger Stalls or Ambiga by the Bar Council and all Malaysians should recommend that the Bar Council’s degrees should be withdrawn for ignoring APARTHEID but making lots of noise about Burgers and Ambiga. Prepare that delegation to END APARTHEID and stop arguing about the ‘of secondary importance’ riots!

Scopolamine often blown into faces of victims or added to drinks
Within minutes, victims are like ‘zombies’ – coherent, but with no free will
Some victims report emptying bank accounts to robbers or helping them pillage own house
Drug is made from borrachero tree, which is common in Colombia

A hazardous drug that eliminates free will and can wipe the memory of its victims is currently being dealt on the streets of Colombia.

The drug is called scopolamine, but is colloquially known as ‘The Devil’s Breath,’ and is derived from a particular type of tree common to South America.

Stories surrounding the drug are the stuff of urban legends, with some telling horror stories of how people were raped, forced to empty their bank accounts, and even coerced into giving up an organ.

Danger: ‘The Devil’s Breath’ is such a powerful drug that it can remove the capacity for free will
Deadly drug: Scopolamine is made from the Borrachero tree, which blooms with deceptively beautiful white and yellow flowers

VICE’s Ryan Duffy travelled to the country to find out more about the powerful drug. In two segments, he revealed the shocking culture of another Colombian drug world, interviewing those who deal the drug and those who have fallen victim to it.

Demencia Black, a drug dealer in the capital of Bogota, said the drug is frightening for the simplicity in which it can be administered.

He told Vice that Scopolamine can be blown in the face of a passer-by on the street, and within minutes, that person is under the drug’s effect – scopolamine is odourless and tasteless.

‘You can guide them wherever you want,’ he explained. ‘It’s like they’re a child.’

Black said that one gram of Scopolamine is similar to a gram of cocaine, but later called it ‘worse than anthrax.’

In high doses, it is lethal.

It only takes a moment: One drug dealer in Bogota explained how victims are drugged within minutes of exposure

Victims: One Colombian woman said that under the influence of scopolamine, she led a man to her house and helped him ransack it

The drug, he said, turns people into complete zombies and blocks memories from forming. So even after the drug wears off, victims have no recollection as to what happened.

One victim told Vice that a man approached her on the street asking her for directions. Since it was close by, she helped take the man to his destination, and they drank juice together.

‘You can guide them wherever you want. It’s like they’re a child.’

She took the man to her house and helped him gather all of her belongings, including her boyfriend’s cameras and savings.

‘It is painful to have lost money,’ the woman said,’ but I was actually quite lucky.’

According to the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, the drug – also known as hyoscine – causes the same level of memory loss as diazepam.

In ancient times, the drug was given to the mistresses of dead Colombian leaders – they were told to enter their master’s grave, where they were buried alive.

Devil’s Breath: The drug is odourless and tasteless and can simply be blown in the face of someone on the street; their free will vanishes after being exposed to it

Dangerous: Vice’s Ryan Duffy traveled to the capital of Bogota to find out more about the drug

In modern times, the CIA used the drug as part of Cold War interrogations, with the hope of using it like a truth serum.

However, because of the drug’s chemical makeup, it also induces powerful hallucinations.

The tree common around Colombia, and is called the ‘borrachero’ tree – loosely translated as the ‘get-you-drunk’ tree.

It is said that Colombian mothers warn their children not to fall asleep under the tree, though the leafy green canopies and large yellow and white flowers seem appealing.

Experts are baffled as to why Colombia is riddled with scopolamine-related crimes, but wager much of it has to do with the country’s torn drug-culture past, and on-going civil war.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Unpleasant Postulations about Hyocine use in Airlines or planes (also how terrorists, Korean cults of personality, or Columbine murderers or even Mack the Knife, an early example, mass mindless voters who SOMEHOW vote wrongly instead on on issues, might be trained and brainwashed) :

Airline introduces scopolamine or hyocine into air inside the enclosed plane, as expected who knows most flight stewardesses have been raped no end, with any customers haing theor souls harvested for use (resulting in jet lag). This medical abuse in collusion with airelines (timed release devices installed within air conditioners in homes in hotels, in cars, introduced through office air vents etc..) . . .

‘You can guide them wherever you want,’ he explained. ‘It’s like they’re a child.’

This fact can be applied alongside hidden audio devices that can be turned on or time released to play ‘instructions’. I strongly believe that in certain states this is routinely done against political dissenters, also in apartheid states with access to the technology or chemicals.

Travel in enclosed spaces makes scopolamine poisoning or time released terrorism based on poisoning very easy. While the pilots space out, the plane goes down or the bus or train crashes.

Someone who apparently dabbled alot in spiritual practices that seemed to be I spoke to before once said :

‘I travel seldom and was well rested. One time I did travel by plane years ago, my soul was stolen by this woman . . . I had a nosebleed later . . . and it took sometime to extract the soul portion I lost.’

This is why people respect (fear) medical people in Asia including nurses. Probably this is also how medical people brainwash their ‘followers’ and become ‘politicians’ via access to the chemicals. Or on a longshot who knows even ‘Maid Agencies’ give employers the same drug to ‘control’ their ‘disobedient’ maids with (doubtless more abuse and rapes are never recorded if these classes of drugs are being used, the underground scene among youth for synthetics btw is out of control in some parts so the ‘legitimate’ use to control maids probably is even more rampant . . . )? I again repost the below postulation on what happened in DAP :

Here’s a spiritual theory. Karpal was set up by DAP via spiritual poison or use of scopolamine, and due to injuries and inability to recall chakras Karpal succumbed to manipulation by DAP. Without access to the lower chakras due to paralysis, Karpal was taken over by LKS and LGE not being able to fight back. The occult or medical technique probably is known to PAP, and now is mployed by DAP, most Penangites are under attack and attacking each other, the high density development paradigm of cities does not help, making people into hivelike drones. Hence the possible hero worship of the term limitless nepotists.

The medical professionals especially 3rd world based, are not always on the right path, greed, murder, and selfishness can be seen . . . Try http://peopleagainstopposition.blogspot.com/2011/04/tragedy-at-sekolah-agama-rakyat-al.html and get an idea of how Islam and the medical establishment are possibly at war in Malaysia, some of us neutrals just want to have non-Muslim rights to entertainment, human rights to equality, not be poisoned and ‘prayered’ to ill health by the ‘pious’ . . .

Penang has become a spiritually ill place that will see many of this generation go down as the a$$holes who caused Fukushima (extracted spirits tend to congregate near Nuke plants thinking their flesh body owners are dead, but they are NOT dead so they mistake Nuke plants as the ‘Light’ and gathered together to free the lost with the tsunami and other natural disasters, you see the spirits of the Earth far outnumber Man, and Man when led by plutocrats, term limitless, medical-psyche poisoners tend to offend the entire planet.).

Keep tormenting, nature knows where you live and who you all are . . . the abusers in the medical profession (why do they work housemen so hard and at such long shifts, is that to catch them unawares so that brainwashing can occur in the confines of the hospital, are there ‘black ops’ people in such places indoctrinating?), many temples and ‘places of worship’ are doomed and peopled by evil cultists in Asia. Any country that has national service or even enforces religion without freedom of choice (i.e. Buddhism, Islam) could well be responsible of these human rights abuses.

Superpower nations everywhere with MI6 departments that study this sort of thing, if this postulation is true, please do colonize in the name of Human Rights, there is no life without freedom as the Human Rights Charter does not clearly state the above as an abuse or easily proves this. To be liberated we of conscience are all ready to turn against those who oppress us.

The refusal to do the bidding of evil minded creeps is clear, this is but a symptom of the sickness of society, this is not created by normal citizens, this is exhibit the symptoms of the ill treatment. Fukushima says so. The 100K+ deaths in Acheh attest, 6 generations for beheading, for this spiritual subjudice! That energy is NOT to be used by the profane and greedy who love money from funeral funds or who sell and spiritually murder fellow citizens in the name of religion. All spiritualists involved are DAMNED. The temples that fell, fell of their own neglect of apartheid against the minorities (the spirits LEFT the temple and the temples were forfeit) interference and presumption to disrupt the course of rightful history. Finally, it would seem that organic psychedelics could counter the effects of the above synthetic medications or even heal the effects of synthetics and should not only be considered for entertainment but more so healing as well.

A warning (no guesses to who), man’s spirituality is far beyond that of three 2700. 2000, 1400 year old egregores fueled by the wickedness of ‘pious’ society there are forces Eons old that are watching . . . the world can choose to be blighted by deserts or relinquish the souls stolen from innocent children, innocent people.

If incorrect, please feel free to debunk. We’d be very happy to know that this is not happening! Finally organic psychedelics appear to be able to counter the synthetic poisons or fortify against. We cannot ‘just trust society’ there must be an independent audit of the medical and psyche establishment, the government itself as well.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Barisan Nasional (BN) could win the general elections because of unprecedented spending on the public, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik told

Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily in an interview published today.

“I think BN can still win, because the government is spending money non-stop under different names, and this has never happened before,” he told Sin Chew in an exclusive interview.

Recently, the government has been spending heavily on various schemes to aid the public, including book vouchers for students and Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M).

A recent poll showed that the prime minister’s approval rating has surged by 10 per centage points to 69 per cent on the back of an improving economy and the cash handouts of RM500 to low-income households under BR1M.

Pollsters Merdeka Centre found that the prime minister’s support was highest among households earning less than RM1,500 a month at 78 per cent, with four-fifths of Indians and 74 per cent of Malays also giving Najib the thumbs up.

However Dr Ling (picture) thinks that the effect of the BR1M aid on voters has “long faded”.

The former MCA president acknowledged the perception that Chinese voters did not view BN favourably.

“Generally speaking, Chinese are not good towards BN, but in Perlis there is no other choice (besides BN), (BN) may also lack support in Johor, but not to the point of losing,” he was quoted as saying by Sin Chew.

Dr Ling said, however, that a failure to keep a supermajority in Parliament would not be a big problem, as he found nothing wrong with the public’s desire for change.

“A lot of things will change, the past example (March 2008) proved that things improved when there was a change, what’s the problem (with change)?”

“I think BN knows what kind of results they will face, they know this is a very hard battle,” he said, stressing that “this time the general elections is very hard and

difficult for BN.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not unless the voters identify BN’s trick first. Tax money musical chairs. Pass to the voter the money they took from the voter via taxes to make themselves look good, then tax more after they win! Thanks for the idea and warning Dr.Ling, but I think the voters are cleverer than what you think now (and lower those election deposits so that the poorest sweeper can be an MP, we look forward to 99%ter policies, not shameless MPs who ask for 750K funerals (at the Rakyat’s expense) from the same people who put their fathers in Kamunting and not address ENDING APARTHEID . . . ) . . .

Reflections of a world long gone – CERITALAH by Karim Raslan – Tuesday May 15, 2012 – newsdesk@thestar.com.my

Lawyer and diplomat PG Lim shows us she is very much the original lady activist through her colourful memoirs, Kaleidoscope.

WE are not a nation of writers. Malaysians aren’t great diarists or memoirists. Indeed, our collective Malaysian story – our national narrative – has tended to lose out in terms of subtlety, intimacy and diversity precisely because of this weakness.

However, the lawyer and diplomat PG Lim’s memoirs Kaleidoscope provides us with a superb addition to the dominant and at times tiresome, national narrative.

The book also reminds us that history is an accumulation of different stories, perspectives and experiences and that we are diminished as a people if we disregard the diversity at the very core of what it is to be Malaysian.

PG’s account is elegantly written, insightful and deeply felt. In Kaleidoscope, PG reveals a hitherto unknown talent as a story-teller as she weaves the great events of the 20th Century with her own personal triumphs and failures.

It’s also been an eye-opening read for someone such as myself, who’s known PG for nearly 30 years. The book has made me realise that she’s very much the original lady activist – a forerunner to Irene Fernandes, Zainah Anwar and even Teresa Kok – principled, unflinching and always, always on the side of the dispossessed and down-trodden.

Moreover, PG’s shift from activism and opposition politics to national service (she was to be an Ambassador for over nine years in New York, Vienna and Bruxelles) underlines both the high regard with which the establishment viewed her as well as the less divisive nature of politics back in the 60s and 70s.

Indeed PG (along with Tan Sri Dr Aishah Ghani) was one of only two women on the National Consultative Council which was set up by the National Operations Council in the wake of the May 13 riots and the suspension of the Malaysian Parliament.

Born in 1915 in London, the daughter of a prominent Penang-based lawyer, Lim Cheng Ean, and a British Guyana medical student, Rosaline Hoalim, PG grew up amidst great wealth and an enormously supportive family.

She studied at the famous Light Street Convent School before pursuing a law degree in Girton College, Cambridge, in the late 1930s.

PG was to be shaped by both her mother’s independent, strong-willed nature as well as her father’s well-known civic-mindedness (he served on the Straits Settlement Legislative Council alongside Tan Cheng Lok and H.H. Abdoolcader).

Indeed PG’s large posse of over-achieving and good-looking brothers and sisters have left an inedible stamp on Malaysian public life.

Entering legal practice after the Second World War, PG went on to carve a name for herself as a fearless lawyer and a champion for labour rights, at a time when plantation workers in particular were very poorly treated.

These earlier sections of the memoirs are the most illuminating and exciting. PG conjures up the rich, culturally intriguing milieu of Baba Nonya life in pre-War Penang, the uncertainty of the Japanese Occupation (not to mention the gutlessness and perfidy of the retreating British forces), as well as the exuberance of post-Independence life in Kuala Lumpur.

Along with the magisterial roll-out of history, PG also touches on her own personal disappointments. She’s unflinching in this regard as she recounts her two failed marriages: proof that successful women face multiple challenges.

PG never shied away from controversial or difficult cases, from Confrontation-era insurgents being threatened with the death penalty to trade unionists seeking better conditions for workers – there was no cause too big or too small for her.

Indeed, it’s interesting to compare the current trade union activism with the events of the 50s and 60s.

PG’s interests extended way beyond activism. She was a major stalwart of the Art’s Council which, in turn, became the nucleus of Malaysia’s National Art Gallery.

The book reflects her varied interests. She was a voracious reader, she fenced and punted in Cambridge, while also being an active supporter of the arts.

Kaleidoscope provides us with a view of a world that has long disappeared, of a Malaysia that was and could have been.

It reminds us of a time when it was still possible to learn French and Latin in a Malaysian school. Of a time when Malaysia had a Labour Party and when the various races mingled without resentment or reserve.

This was a time when politicians behaved like gentlemen and honest debate was not seen as a form of treason.

Her life and writings are a firm rebuke to the gutter politics that Malaysian public life has descended to. As she writes at the conclusion of Kaleidoscope:

“I remember my father telling me, if you are right in the causes you champion, you should be fearless in pursuing them. I sometimes feel Malaysians are too timid to champion worthy causes. Technology now provides us all with greater opportunities to get our voices heard.”

PG Lim is a great Malaysian: bold, brilliant, principled and utterly human. Her story is an integral part of our national narrative. Read it.

Fore-runner to the floundering Tenagania President Irene Fernandez? Little wonder. PG Lim is no activist and had remained silent about apartheid for DECADES (shying away from the very most important and controversial or difficult case of – APARTHEID). She sat cynically by as real activists were sabotaged over the last decade by the fundo and psychiatric establishment, had their reputation sabotaged or their privacy invaded and who knows had access to and watched so many illegally obtained clips of these people in their private homes which now still plague the reputations of those sabotaged. Instead of reporting the abuses, sat by quietly and ‘enjoyed the show’ alongside the abusers.

PG Lim however has gotten The Star Paper to fette herself as an activist, and The Star Paper being your typical ‘business minded’ plutocrat favouring main stream paper likely brought up on fear of bankruptcy, decided to do what The Star Paper does best, fette whoever pays. Meanwhile REAL activists continue to suffer while struggling to end apartheid. This is the sickness of society and a glaring exanple of what is wrong with Malaysia’s so-called philanthropists and activists. Selfish and self glorifying.

PG Lim is no activist but would like to appear so. Not a word on apartheid and a plutocrat with cpacity to fund dozens of campaigns for neutral parties to boot but with no real stomach for politics either, having NEVER EVER spoken about APARTHEID. We will not blame PG Lim as the company PG Lim keeps has doubtless coloured PG Lim’s nature. Again as a REAL activist we remind on Malaysia’s lack of :

;and would not sit by silently as PG Lim has, spare no platititudes in asking voters to not vote for term-limitless, undeomcratic, nepotists, racists and corrupted or plutocrats in BOTH coalitions BN and PR, instead fetting the real grassroots people like 3rd Force political parties or any independent candidates.

Proposed 3rd Force Coalition

PG Lim is a Malaysian ex-Barrister who somehow managed (I’d say INTENTIONALLY, most cynically so as well . . . ) to neglect APARTHEID and live apart from the ‘masses’ : timid, unprincipled and utterly sheep-like. Her non-story is an integral part of our national neglect (of apartheid).

Know this ! The National Consultative Council introduced the much hated and very apartheid New Economic Policy which PG Lim indirectly oversaw the penning of, so guess what that makes an unelected advisory ‘councillor’ PG Lim complicit in? Thats right, (at least after the 15 year period of Special Malay Privileges after thhe Race Riots, in 1976 for not speaking up when the earlier confirmed Reid Commission review was not made) Complicit in enabling APARTHEID. PG Lim could well be charged if the Malaysian Judiciary were not so beholden to racists and UNHCR unaware ( . . . can someone withdraw their degrees already, their apartheid ignoring presence is a legal profession insulting travesty!) with abetting torts in violation of UNHCR Article 1 in Intenational law and here we have Karim praising PG to the sky. Damn propagandists and their MSM approved straw-women ‘activists’!

Much like Ambiga ex-Bar Council President (and looking increasingly so current Bar President Lim Chee Wee) does not have the intelligence or guts to contact the UN, NAM, BRICS or Al-Azhar University at Cairo to END APARTHEID, a Barrister who ignored APARTHEID to her reputation’s demise confirms the pathetic and selfish true nature of the supposedly trained legal professionals in Malaysia who somehow cannot address APARTHEID (and in general the lack of ‘Exceptionalism’ of female activists in Malaysia who would fight for everything exceptENDING APARTHEID).

Read PG’s book with a pinch of salt. This text is a hyped up grayscale ‘whitewash’ (or ‘brownwash’), and is not kaleidoscopic at all. I could think of more ‘colourful’ memoirs to read than this cynical MSM faux-‘Malaysiana’ inspired drivel . . . and ask PG Lim on her views on LGBT, you might actually see more rainbows fade . . . finally, I just lost respect for one more Star reporter.

ARTICLE 11

A free press is essential to democracy — Dennis Ignatius
May 16, 2012

MAY 16 — Marina Mahathir, one of our nation’s most inspiring figures, recently wrote how her article in The Star was spiked for fear of incurring the wrath of the powers that be.

As a columnist for the same newspaper myself, I understand Marina’s angst.

Recently, I submitted an article about democracy in Myanmar. It ran on Monday, May 7. One line was, however, deleted. In referring to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s promise to support the transformation process in that country, I said, “We may not have much to teach them about democracy but we can help in other ways.”

It seemed such a small thing but even such references are now deemed too sensitive.

I thought it was really ironic that here I was writing about democracy in Myanmar, long considered a dictatorship, while being censored in a country that is assumed to be a democracy.

The last article I wrote in response to bizarre allegations in the national press that American and Zionist groups were plotting regime change in Malaysia was spiked with no explanations given.

It seems newspaper editors in Malaysia, at least the ones who don’t behave as government servants, have to constantly play by ear, shutting down criticism when the government is nervous and allowing some measure of it at other times.

Commentators, for their part, quickly learn that it is prudent to write about developments in faraway places than to touch on the issues that really matter at home. And so we wax eloquent on why Nicolas Sarkozy lost the elections or why Barack Obama supports gay marriage instead of the beaten and bloodied demonstrators on the streets of our capital. It’s the journalistic equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Having been brought up on the notion that some issues, particularly those relating to race and religion, are “sensitive” issues, we came to accept a measure of state censorship. There are signs, however, that things are changing. People are less willing to accept such censorship today, particularly as the so-called “sensitive” list has been expanded to include other national issues.

Furthermore, it is quite obvious that the mainstream media has become far too one-sided for the liking of most Malaysians. Perhaps that may account for the gradual decline of newspaper sales in the country.

Our prime minister recently introduced legislation amending the Printing Presses and Publications Act and other repressive laws. He promised that it would lead to greater freedom, including press freedom.

However, it appears that while Parliament may have changed the letter of the law, the spirit of control behind it has survived intact. In quiet and hidden ways, the press continues to be subjected to manipulation and harassment in an effort to drown out dissenting opinions and differing views.

A culture of self-censorship has also emerged where the press learns to anticipate the reaction of the powers that be and acts accordingly. When the press ceases to write “without fear or favour,” to use the title of the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon’s column in The Star, we have truly lost one of the essentials of our democracy.

History tells us that without a free press, truth dies and the lie prevails while mismanagement, corruption and the abuse of power fester in the dark with terrible consequences. As well, it creates an unhealthy environment where rumours and gossip quickly become fact.

Just these past few weeks we have seen how one of the most significant events in our country’s history has been reframed and recast as a communist-inspired coup attempt, as nothing more than mass hooliganism, as something contrary to our religious values.

What about the other side of the story or the personal narratives and firsthand accounts of hundreds of ordinary citizens who were there that day? Is there no space in our national newspapers for their story?

Journalists have a responsibility to capture such events in all its dimensions to help the public understand what took place. If they do not, they will soon find themselves irrelevant to the national conversation on these issues.

History also teaches us that to sustain itself, repression and control, by its very nature, must keep on expanding to be effective. Already we are seeing signs of censorship creep and manipulation — BBC and al Jazeera newscasts edited and an Australian senator’s remarks blatantly distorted.

And then there’re the shocking remarks by our minister of Home Affairs that it is standard operating procedure for the police to smash cameras and harass journalists who cover such public gatherings!

How long will it be before all criticism of government becomes illegal and treasonous?

It is tempting, of course, to blame the editors and journalists for not standing up to censorship but that misses the point.

I have met a number of journalists and editors, including from The Star, and I know them to be honourable men and women who have dedicated their lives to their profession. You cannot be committed to journalism, as they are, and not yearn for the freedom to write, to explore issues, to investigate a lead no matter where it goes. My sense is that they deeply resent the censorship and the constant harassment.

They are forced to make choices that they shouldn’t have to make: To yield in some areas in order to keep at least a modicum of free expression alive in other areas and to compromise or close, to give up or somehow keep hope alive.

The real focus of our indignation should instead be the system of control and manipulation that makes good men and women bow their knee to what their hearts deny, that forces them to choose between their principles and their livelihood, between what they know to be right and the wrong they are often compelled to accept.

It is no secret that our nation now faces many critical challenges; press freedom is one of them. I hope that the voices clamouring for this fundamental right will grow louder in the days ahead. The future of our democracy depends upon it.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free… it expects what never was and never will be. The People cannot be safe without information. When the press is free… all is safe.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

* Dennis Ignatius is a retired Malaysian diplomat

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Dennis Ignatius wrote : Commentators, for their part, quickly learn that it is prudent to write about developments in faraway places than to touch on the issues that really matter at home. And so we wax eloquent on why Nicolas Sarkozy lost the elections or why Barack Obama supports gay marriage instead of the beaten and bloodied demonstrators on the streets of our capital. It’s the journalistic equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Here we go again with the ‘diversionary tactic’, manipulative MSM. Ignoring apartheid, (more so than ignoring beaten and bloodied demonstrators), IS no less ‘the journalistic equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns’, ‘Diplomatic Corps Dennis’.

Apartheid is the basis of the Malaysian problem, NOT the riots which are a symptom that will keep occuring until Apartheid for the minorities, and religious fascism (lack of religious freedom of choice) for Malays or Muslims, ends. Address the apartheid, extreme religion, corruption, cronyism and nepotism, and all riots will end. Men who are able to write eloquently and at least able to think, should not obfuscate real issues for cynical and self serving ‘people in power’.

Park Romney: Why he turned against the Mormon church – by John Sweeney BBC News

The Mormon Candidate is part of the latest series of This World, broadcast on Tuesday 27 March at 19:00 BST on BBC Two Special report: US 2012

Mitt Romney, the front runner in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination for the White House, is a devout Mormon, but his cousin, Park Romney, also in the past a committed member of the church, now denounces it as a cult.

“I became convinced that it’s a fraud,” Park Romney told the BBC, explaining his reason for leaving the Mormon fold.

The two visions of Mormonism the Romney cousins present could not be more starkly opposed. Park Romney, 56, is a former Mormon high priest, who turned against the church. On the stump Mitt Romney, 65, has avoided mentioning Mormonism, instead talking generally about his faith, but he has been an active lifelong member of the church. [[[ *** Park Romney, those fundies are aiming for you. At Park Road recently, but it made it to Talca . . . if not contrived to sabotage via article, some help here with the lawsuits please? Some people here need a long stint of re-education and that includes entire medical institutions and even portions of the psyche establishment . . . *** ]]]

“If that is what they believe, it’s probably a good thing they leave, because we’re not a cult”

Jeffrey Holland Mormon Church Elder

He was a Mormon missionary to France in the 1960s, studied at the almost-exclusively Mormon Brigham Young university and rose to become first bishop, then “Stake President” (diocesan leader) in his home state of Massachusetts.

He led Sunday services, ran Bible classes for children and looked after a 4,000-strong congregation in Boston for five years in the 1980s.

Like all Mormons, he is expected to give 10% of his annual income – no-one knows how much he is worth, but it is estimated at anywhere from $150 million to $1 billion – to the Church and not drink tea, coffee or alcohol.

Committed Mormons wear special under-garments, and Romney is believed to follow this tenet of his faith too.

Park Romney’s criticisms of the church are fundamental.

Along with other ex-Mormons, he questions founder Joseph Smith’s prophecies – for example Smith’s translation of an Egyptian scroll, part of the Mormon book of Abraham, which Egyptologists say is a fraud.
The Mormon faith

The church was founded in the 1820s in New York State before moving to Utah in 1860
Mormons believe their founder Joseph Smith found golden scripture plates buried by an angel
The church is estimated to have 14 million followers and to be worth $30bn (£18.9bn)
A recent poll said one in four Americans would be less likely to vote for a Mormon candidate

“There’s compelling evidence that the Mormon Church leaders knowingly and wilfully misrepresent the historical truth of their origins and of the Church for the purpose of deceiving their members into a state of mind that renders them exploitable,” says Park.

Such accusations are rarely heard in the US, a nation founded on the principle of freedom of religion.

“Whenever the issue of Romney’s Mormonism has come to the surface, there’s been lots of condemnation across the political spectrum for raising the issue of his religion,” says Putnam.

“I’m not saying it’s not relevant, but it’s not talked about in polite company.”

Mitt Romney’s biographer, Scott Helman, agrees.

“There are plenty of ways in which people try to cause alarm among some voters over it, but it’s not something you’re allowed to say explicitly,” he says.

“But a certain function of reminding voters who might have some predisposed notion about Mormonism that maybe it is strange, maybe it’s weird.”

Ex-Mormons tend to be the church’s most outspoken critics.

One thing that particularly agitates them is “shunning” – allegations that former church members are denied access to family members who remain in the church.

Park claims this has happened to him.

“I am alienated from my family,” he told the BBC.

“Their doctrine, their protocol and their culture as enforced by bishops encourages the families to disassociate themselves from the apostate.”
Mormon worshippers at annual conference – file pic 2009 The Church has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah

Mormon Church elder Jeffrey Holland denies shunning occurs.

“We don’t use that word and we don’t know that practice.

“If I had a son or a daughter who left the Church or was alienated or had a problem, I can tell you I would not cut that child out of family life,” he states.

The Mormon Church maintains that it does a great deal of good. Its leaders say they have given more than $1bn in aid around the world since 1985.

The allegation that the Church is a cult, made by Park Romney and other ex-Mormons, is denied by Elder Holland.

“If that is what they believe, it’s probably a good thing they leave, because we’re not a cult.

“I have chosen this church because of the faith that I feel and the inspiration that comes, but if people want to call us a cult, you can call us a cult,” Elder Holland says from behind his desk.

“But we are 14 million and growing.”ARTICLE 2

Why Mormons Don’t Drink Coffee or Tea – by Lura Lee

Have you noticed that most followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) commonly called Mormons, don’t drink coffee or tea? You’ll see them enjoying herbal teas (tisanes), hot cider, and many true believers even drink caffeinated soda. The casual observer may jump to the conclusion that this is 1) a law, 2) must have something to do with caffeine. Neither is accurate. This article goes into detail to explain the historical significance, context, and modern interpretation of the prohibition/exhortation against coffee and tea for Mormons.

The Word of Wisdom

Followers of the LDS church believe in a book of scripture called The Book of Mormon, and the concept of continuous revelation. They believe that the Holy Spirit continues to communicate with humans. Thus, the prophet Joseph Smith received a spontaneous manifestation of God’s insight for living correctly on February 27, 1833. This insight was written down and incorporated into the Doctrines and Covenants of the Church; specifically, these insights are referred to as the Word of Wisdom. It may be an apocryphal story, but it is said that Joseph Smith was moved to ask for God’s insight on the matter of tobacco, and the revelation that resulted included guidance related to the use of tobacco, “warm drinks”,”strong drinks”, wine, meat, herbs and grains.

A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion-
To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days
Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.
Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation-
That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.
And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.
And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.
And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.
And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.
And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man-
Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

The common hot drinks of the time were coffee and tea. But this was a dietary shift for Joseph Smith’s contemporaries, the generation of Mormon Pioneers.

Mormon pioneers had a relatively high literacy rate compared to other people around the world in the 1830s – 1850s. To a large extent, this can be attributed to the fact that they had

Protestant roots and they needed to read Scripture in order to properly practice their religious beliefs. Keep in mind that the United States at this time had no federal program of education for its citizenry. Most states and municipalities didn’t either. Compulsory, standardized, universal education was a reform of the early 1900s. Still, many of the middle-class pioneers were literate, kept diaries and read guide books prior to embarking on the overland journey west to Utah, which came to be known as the Mormon Trail.

The most popular books of the time were: William Clayton’s The Latter Day Saint’s Emigrant’s Guide (1848), and Joseph Ware’s The Emigrant’s Guide to California (1849). All of the guides of the time included recommendations for provisioning the wagons. For example, Andrew Child’s Overland Route guidebook included foodstuff recommendation for three men to include 50 pounds of coffee and 2 pounds of tea, even the LDS leadership recommended packing coffee, tea, and alcohol for the 1846 overland journey. But while they were packing the wagons, they may have contemplated the advantages of quitting any coffee or tea habit they had acquired while living in Illinois. They were fleeing religious persecution, after all, so they intended to minimize contact with non-believers, and coffee and tea won’t grow in Utah. So, to some extent, the rejection of tea and coffee amongst the Mormon Pioneers was a mechanism for building Mormon identity at the most basic, formative, constitutive level.
Next to Godliness?

The current debate over coffee, tea, caffeine, and other “hot drinks” boils down to a difference in interpretation about whether this particular portion of the Doctrines and Covenants is an outright prohibition or merely counsel. During the Temperance movement years, the Mormons referred to the Word of Wisdom to eschew alcohol consumption, and became associated with strict Prohibition reform. Around 1921, the Mormon Church switched from the use of wine in religious ceremony to water. Today, it seems that full participation in the Church (participation in the Mormon Temple) is granted to those who are strict adherents to the Words of Wisdom. But there is still room for debate on the specifics of what it means to “strictly” adhere to the tenets of the Words of Wisdom. Even today, there is a lot of discussion about whether it is just coffee and tea, whether cola is ok, whether decaf coffee and tea are ok, etc.

Essentially, the Church leaders recommend the rejection of any drink that might be habit forming. “With reference to cola drinks, the Church has never officially taken a position on this matter, but the leaders of the Church have advised, and we do now specifically advise, against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs under circumstances that would result in acquiring the habit. Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided.”(Clifford J. Stratton, “Caffeine–The Subtle Addiction,” Tambuli, Mar. 1990, 25)

Now, coffee is seen as part of that slippery slope that leads away from God. Coffee, booze, marijuana, cocaine… all a defilement of the temple that God gave us.
If Not Coffee — What?

So, in lieu of coffee, what hot beverages do Mormons enjoy? Well, they used to drink Postum. They were crazy for Postum. Postum was a roasted grain and molasses drink produced by Kraft foods. It was discontinued from production in 2007. Mormons also favor the following drinks served both warm and cold: herbal tinctures, milk, and non-alcoholic apple drinks. They also enjoy Italian sodas, fruit drinks, and milkshakes.

Will the Next President Drink Coffee?

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney isn’t interested in highlighting the differences between the LDS Church and other Christians. So he holds meet-n-greets in coffee shops where no one bothers to ask what’s in the coffee mug.

Does Mitt Romney drink coffee?

2011 Update: The site MittRomneyCentral.com posted a photo of Mitt Romney at a Tampa coffee shop in front of a coffee mug. Did he drink coffee? The author of this article contacted Buddy Brew Coffee and spoke to a barista working duirng his visit. It was confirmed that Mitt Romney did not drink coffee during his visit.

Separate but Together

To a large extent the Mormon decision to not drink coffee or tea is born out of a desire to separate from the common, everyday world. Mormons separate from worldly temptations in order to be closer to God. They also separate from other Christians, Muslims, and Jews in order to bind to one another and establish identity as a group. One tangible way in which they are separate but together is through the tradition of abstaining from coffee and tea.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The occult significance if remembered accurately, (restating is NOT complete and blind belief – this is to remind any psycho-psyche DULLARD uncool people who are ready to ‘report’ ‘insane’ people . . . ) is the access to Satan’s face (lowest chakra point located) based on earlier postulations I made on this. With the aid of psychiatry and neuro suppressive drugs, various implants, control can be established by non-caffeine users against caffeine users? Perhaps tea in fact is another form of suppressant as well, NOT to be used among the working classes, and would appear to have effect on thetans? Is that why the Americans used to cut off the ears of Vietnamese? Do not use tea or coffee in the presence of the psychiatric establishment (who might be popping with psycho-active meds to increase their edge over everyone else etc..)?

Example of helpful medical implants used as instruments of control by the psychiatric and fundo religious establishment.

The year 1966 was a banner year for the Prince of Darkness. Approaching the dog days of summer in that momentous year, Anton LaVey, a decadent, ex-circus entertainer, also a Jew, formally founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco. The date: June 6, 1966, or 6-6-66.

Across the nation, in New England at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, a young man spent the year 1966 in his somber new residence, the Tomb. The Tomb is a gothic, mausoleum-like stone building just off campus, adjacent to an ancient cemetery complete with Masonic tombstones, odd-shaped crypts, and what is called the “garden of the dead.”

A New Name for a Jewish Bonesman

The young man’s name was John F. Kerry (really John F. Kohn, Jewish). The Tomb, in fact, is the home of Chapter 322 of the Order of Skull & Bones, a satanic, clandestine lodge of Freemasonry first organized in 1832. Each year, fifteen (15; 1+5=6) carefully chosen young men of preferred bloodlines take up residence inside its thick walls. At their initiation into The Order, each man lies naked inside a coffin and “bonds” with his fellow bonesmen by confessing his sexual thoughts and deeds from birth. Then, each initiate is given, as a memento, a human bone with his new name “inscribed” on it.

Most of the names given the bonesmen are either pagan or else blatantly satanic. The late Averell Harriman, who went on to become Governor of New York State and U.S. Ambassador to Stalin’s USSR, was named “Thor,” after the Viking deity. Henry Luce, prime controller of Time, Life, and other publishing interests, became “Baal,” and McGeorge Bundy, foreign advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson, was tagged “Odin.”

The senior George Bush, at his initiation into Bones, was bequeathed the revealing title, “Magog,” a name identified in the Holy Bible as a chieftain of devils who plays a key role in prophetic events. Strangely, the name given his son, George W. Bush, by the Bonesmen was “Temporary.” I wonder why?

John Kerry speaks to the vicious, anti-Christian group, the Jewish ADL, May 6, 2004. Kerry has said that, if elected President, he will send 40,000 additional troops to Iraq.

It is a certainty that Kerry will fully execute the Illuminati’s agenda to conquer all Arab oil nations and turn over the rich assets of these countries to neighboring Israel. (Order revealing audiotape report, Hidden Agenda: Ten Awful Goals of the Illuminati’s World Zionist Council; $9 postpaid; phone toll free 1-800-234-9673.)

Long Devil Takes The Lead

My sources tell me that John Kerry’s occult, Bones’ name is none other than “Long Devil.” “Long Devil!” Of course, the man’s sizeable height might account for the “Long,” but what of “Devil?” Why did the influential alumni of Skull & Bones decide on this grotesque identity for John Kerry? What did—and do—they know?

Kerry (Yale, Class of ’66) went on to serve in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam, a nation then ravaged with bloodshed and war. Though in-country only four months, young Ensign (later Lt.) John

Kerry played a part in that bloodletting. Some say his refusal to release all his military personnel records indicates Kerry’s desire to cover-up ugly war crimes he personally helped commit.

On April 22, 1971, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a hippie-like, long-haired John Kerry, by then a civilian, told the Senators he had evidence of horrific atrocities and war crimes by Americans—soldiers, sailors, and marines—who had “personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires to human genitalia and turned up the electric power, razed villages reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, and poisoned food stocks…”

Was Kerry himself a perpetrator of some of these satanic crimes?

I use the term “satanic” advisedly, yet, that description is fitting, for truly, Satan was the mastermind behind the tortures, torments, and murders committed in Vietnam, both by Americans and by the Vietnamese.

Christianity to Vanish and Shrink

Yes, ’66 was a classic year for the old Devil. That was also the year that Beatle John Lennon assured the world that Christianity was on the way out:
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink… I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now.”

Lennon, McCartney, and the other Beatles promptly went over to India to worship Hindu gurus, and they introduced their gurus and other vestiges of Eastern mysticism to western culture.

All done in a haze of marijuana, LSD, and cocaine.

The Illuminati-supervised CIA helped things along. The U.S. intelligence agency put Satanist Jerry Garcia and his Grateful Dead band (Al Gore’s favorite rock group, says Rolling Stone magazine) on its payroll. The CIA, according to Gerald Heard and SRI International, distributed tons of LSD to a spaced-out youth generation. This was a mind control experiment of the Illuminati elite.

The 60s saw Hollywood’s satanic sex classic, Rosemary’s Baby, hit theaters, a movie for which Church of Satan High Priest Anton LaVey acted as a consultant. Actor John Cassavettes, who played Rosemary’s Satan-worshipping husband in the movie, also played in a role in the movie, The Dirty Dozen.

By the end of the indulgent decade of the 60s, America had borne witness to blood murder, sexual kinkiness, and other Satanic mayhem on a truly epic scale, culminating in 1969’s Manson Family murders. Satanist Charles Manson was inspired by Anton LaVey.

Others, too, were inspired by LaVey. Famous black actor/singer Sammy Davis, Jr., became both a religious Jew and a practicing Satanist, joining LaVey’s macabre congregation of devil cultists. Blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield also joined the cult, as did scores of other Hollywood and Las Vegas types.

As far as Satan was concerned, ’66 was a very good year. Anton LaVey, a Christ-hating Jew, shown here performing a ritual with disciple, actress Jayne Mansfield, founded the Church of Satan in ’66. Meanwhile, John Kerry (Yale, Class of ’66) was enjoying the benefits of residence at The Tomb, headquarters of the Order of Skull & Bones.

But, let us again return to the subject of our essay: Long Devil, John Kerry.

Joining Hands with Mr. Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy

John Kerry has been, as we all know, richly rewarded for his faithfulness to Lucifer’s cause. Pretending to be an Irish Catholic, Kerry first became Massachusetts Lt. Governor, serving under a fellow occultist, super-liberal Governor Michael Dukakis. Then he joined “Mr. Chappaquiddick,” Ted (Catholic and Rosicrucian) Kennedy as a U.S. Senator, being elected from the state popularly known as The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts.

John Kerry seems to like things “Red.” Here he is sitting atop his bright, fire-red motorcycle (Insight magazine, April 13, 2004). He reportedly once took a $10,000 bribe from Johnny Chung, a lobbyist for Red China, and a Communist museum in Vietnam today proudly displays a picture of Senator John Kerry embracing Red Communist leaders. Kerry’s wife, Teresa, is a funder of numerous Red Communist causes. She originally hails from Mozambique, in Africa, a Marxist-led country. Insiders believe that during the Vietnam War, USN-Lt John Kerry aided in Operation Phoenix, whose symbol, or logo, was the red dragon!

All along, Kerry has kept his ties to various Communist front groups. At virtually every campaign stop today, you’ll see Kerry flash the old Communist clenched-fist salute, an enduring symbol of one’s devotion to Marxism/Leninism philosophy.

“Communism is Jewish,” the late Rabbi Stephen Wise proudly proclaimed. Indeed, Gus Hall, the man honored as the Chairman of the Soviet-funded Communist Party U.S.A. for so long, was a Jew. Like Kerry, he had changed his name to hide his Jewish race.

Comrade John Kerry frequently gives the Communist clenched-fist salute. The late Bella Abzug, Communist Congresswoman from New York and feminist gal-pal of Hillary Clinton, also loved displaying the Leninist/Stalinist salute.

The Lubavitchers and Kerry

Kerry’s brother, Cameron, is likewise a Jew, and proud of it. Recently, he marched side-by-side with a leader of the Lubavitcher sect in New York City. The occasion was the “Israel Day

Parade.” The Lubavitchers are a radical Jewish Orthodox sect. Many of them believe their late fuhrer, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, will rise from the dead to become the Jewish Messiah, Dictator of the World. They affectionately call Schneerson their “Rebbe.”

Cameron Kerry (right) sporting a “Pro-Israel, Pro-Kerry” t-shirt, attends an Israel Day Parade with friend, Yankel Wice, influential Lubavitcher leader and lawyer for the National

Association of Jewish Legislators.

If, however, the departed Schneerson does not show in time, John Kerry, the Jews’ new hero, may be just what their Master, the devil, orders. After all, Kerry is not only Jewish, his very name, albeit covert in nature, is “Long Devil.” How very appropriate a name for the antichrist. The Lubavitchers would likely not know him as antichrist. To them, he would probably be received as their beloved “Rebbe.”

Christians to Have Heads Chopped Off

The antichrist, the Bible prophesies in Revelation 13, “will make war against the saints” of God. He will have Christians and other resisters to his New World Order beheaded, say the scriptures.

Not surprisingly, the Lubavitchers—and many other Jewish groups—are big advocates of the Noahide Laws. They once actually got President George H.W. Bush (the senior Bush) and the U.S.

Senate to pass a resolution praising both their beloved Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson, and the Noahide Laws. And what, do tell, do the Noahide Laws say?

Well for one thing, the Noahide Laws require all Gentiles (Yes, Gentiles) to be “righteous.” Being righteous is defined as not worshipping idols. And Jesus is declared in the Talmud to be an idol!

In summary, under the Noahide Laws, all Christians who worship Jesus Christ are idolaters and will be duly punished by beheading!

Shouldn’t John Kerry’s Jewish brother, Cameron Kerry, a lawyer and pro-Israel activist and fanatic, be asked about his association with the Lubavitchers and other Jewish Talmudists?

Especially in light of Cameron Kerry’s recent trips to Israel, where he was wined and dined by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the bloodthirsty Butcher of Lebanon?

ARTICLE 4

WESTERN CULTURE AND SOCIETY : THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA) – American Religion

RELIGION IN AMERICA:

The United States is a country of many religions. The first words of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution say: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Therefore, state does not establish, or endorse, or favor a particular form of religion and citizens are free to practice the religion they choose.

This tradition of religious freedom runs deep in America. Many of this nation’s early settlers were religious communities fleeing persecution in Europe; they were seeking a place where they could practice their own religion far from the state-sanctioned religions of their native countries.

America supports over 2000 different religious denominations, and in which more than 60 percent of the citizens can be found at least once a month in one of the almost 500,000 churches, temples and mosques.

Islam is considered one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States today. There are over 1,200 mosques in the United States – more than 60 percent founded in the last 20 years. The typical American mosque is ethnically diverse; nearly 90 percent have some Asian, African-American, and Arab members.

Early in their history, Americans rejected the concept of the established or government-favored religion that had dominated, and divided, so many European countries.

One of the first permanent settlements in what became the North American colonies was founded by English Puritans, Calvinists who had been outsiders in their homeland, where the Church of England was established. The Puritans settled in Massachusetts, where they grew and prospered.

The state of Rhode Island, is well known as a place where everyone enjoyed religious freedom throughout history. Two other states originated as havens for people being persecuted for their religious beliefs: Maryland as a refuge for Catholics and Pennsylvania for the Society of Friends (Quakers), a Protestant group whose members believe in plain living.

Even after the adoption of the Constitution in 1787 and the Bill of Rights (which includes the First Amendment) in 1791, Protestantism continued to enjoy a favored status in some states.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) were jailed in the 19th century for practicing polygamy (subsequently the Mormon Church withdrew its sanction of polygamy). More recently, parents have been convicted of criminal negligence for refusing to obtain medical help for their ailing children, who went on to die, even though the parents’ religious beliefs dictated that they refuse treatment because faith would provide a cure.

PROTESTANTS:

Liberal American Protestantism in the 19th century was allied with similar trends in Europe, where scholars were reading and interpreting the Bible in a new way. They questioned the validity of biblical miracles and traditional beliefs about the authorship of biblical books. There was also the challenge of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to contend with. If human beings were descended from other animals, as most scientists came to believe, then the story of Adam and Eve, the biblical first parents, could not be literally true.

What distinguished 19th-century liberal Protestants from their 20th-century counterparts was optimism about the human capacity for improvement. Some of the early ministers believed that the church could accelerate progress by trying to reform society. In the spirit of the gospels, they began to work on behalf of the urban poor. Today’s liberal clergymen — not just Protestants but Catholics and others, too — may be less convinced that progress is inevitable, but many of them have continued their efforts on behalf of the poor by managing shelters for homeless people, feeding the hungry, running day-care centers for children, and speaking out on social issues.

Evangelical Christians favor an impassioned, participatory approach to religion, and their services are often highly charged, with group singing and dramatic sermons that evoke spirited responses from the congregation. The South, in particular, became a bastion of this “old-time religion,” and the conservative Baptist church is very influential in that region. In recent decades some preachers have taken their ministry to television, preaching as “televangelists” to large audiences.

The trend toward removing religious teaching and practices from public schools has prompted some parents to send their children to religious schools and others to educate their children at home.

CATHOLICS AND RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS:

By the time of the Civil War, over one million Irish Catholics had come to the United States. In a majority Protestant country, they and Catholics of other backgrounds were subjected to prejudice.

Although Catholics were never denied access to public schools or hospitals, beginning in the 19th century they built institutions of their own, which met accepted standards while observing the tenets of Catholic belief and morality. On the other hand, the Catholic Church does not require its members to go to church-run institutions. Many Catholic students attend public schools and secular colleges. But Catholic schools still educate many Catholic young people, as well as a growing number of non-Catholics, whose parents are attracted by the discipline and quality of instruction.

JEWISH FAITHS:

Like Catholics, Jews were a small minority in the first years of the American republic. Until the late 19th century, most Jews in America were of German origin. Anti-Jewish prejudice was not a big problem before the Civil War. But when Jews began coming to America in great numbers, anti-Jewish groups appeared.

Usually, Jewish children attended public schools and took religious instruction in special Hebrew schools. The children of Jewish immigrants moved rapidly into the professions and into American universities, where many became intellectual leaders.

To combat prejudice and discrimination, Jews formed the B’nai Brith Anti-Defamation League, which has played a major role in educating Americans about the injustice of prejudice and making them aware of the rights, not only of Jews, but of all minorities.

By the 1950s Americans were described as coming in three basic varieties — Protestant, Catholic, and Jew. The order reflects the numerical strength of each group: In the 1990 census, Protestants of all denominations numbered 140 million; Catholics, 62 million; and Jews, 5 million.

Today the three-faith formula is obsolete. The Islamic faith also has 5 million, Buddhism and Hinduism are growing with the arrival of immigrants from countries where these are the majority religions. In some cases, inner-city Christian churches whose congregations have moved to the suburbs have sold their buildings to Buddhists, who have refitted them to suit their practices.

ALTERNATIVE RELIGIONS:

America has been a fertile ground for new religions. The Mormon and Christian Science Churches are perhaps the best-known of the faiths that have sprung up on American soil. Because of its tradition of noninterference in religious matters, the United States has also provided a comfortable home for many small sects from overseas. The Amish, for example, descendants of German immigrants who reside mostly in Pennsylvania and neighboring states, have lived simple lives, wearing plain clothes and shunning modern technology, for generations.

Some small groups are considered to be religious cults because they profess extremist beliefs and tend to glorify a founding figure. As long as cults and their members abide by the law, they are generally left alone. Religious prejudice is rare in America, and interfaith meetings and cooperation are commonplace.

Most Americans think religion is a personal matter not usually discussed in everyday conversation. The vast majority practice their faith quietly in whatever manner they choose — as members of one of the traditional religious denominations, as participants in nondenominational congregations, or as individuals who join no organized group. However Americans choose to exercise their faith, they are a spiritual people. Nine out of ten Americans express some religious preference.

WHAT IS A CULT?

The term “cult” is used to describe certain religious groups outside of the mainstream of Western religion. Social scientists divide religious groups into three categories: churches, sects, and cults.

“Churches” are the large denominations with an inclusive approach to life and include such groups as the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Church, the United Church of Christ and the Protestant Episcopal Church.

“Sects” are groups that have broken away from the main church. Sects follow the same pattern as mainstream religion but are more strict in behavioral demands placed upon members and emphasize their separation and distinctiveness from the larger culture.

“Cults” follow a very different religious structure. When social scientists began their discussion of cults in the 1920s, they were aware of only a few cult groups. A survey of religion in America (1949) listed twenty-seven cults.

The Christian approach to cults would include every group which has departed from orthodox Christianity (such as the Church of Christ, Scientist, the Latter Day Saints, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses) as well as those groups which have never made any claim to be Christian.

More recently there have been many debates on cults since the 1970s. The debates involved speaking to parents of people who were concerned with changes in their sons and daughters who had joined particular religious groups. These “cults”–The Children of God, the Church of Armageddon, the Unification Church, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and the Church of Scientology–had, they claimed, radically altered the personality of their children.

Anti-cult groups began to speak of “destructive cults,” groups which hypnotized or brainwashed recruits, destroyed their ability to make rational judgments and turned them into slaves of the group’s leader. Marcia Rudin, a popular anti-cult writer, listed fourteen commonly accepted characteristics of a cult:

Members swear total allegiance to an all-powerful leader who they believe to be the Messiah.
Rational thought is discouraged or forbidden.
The cult’s recruitment techniques are often deceptive.
The cult weakens the follower psychologically by making him or her depend upon the group to solve his or her problems.
The cults manipulate guilt to their advantage.
The cult leader makes all the career and life decision of the members.
Cults exist only for their own material survival and make false promises to work to improve society.
Cult members often work fulltime for the group for little or no pay.
Cult members are isolated from the outside world and any reality testing it could provide.
Cults are antiwoman, antichild, and antifamily.
Cults are apocalyptic and believe themselves to be the remnant who will survive the soon-approaching end of the world.
Many cults follow an “ends justify the means” philosophy.
Cults, particularly in regard to their finances, are shrouded in secrecy.
There is frequently an aura of or potential for violence around cults.

Anti-cult literature reflects a great concern with approximately 15 groups, though as many as 75 to 100 have received passing mention. Only five groups–the Unification Church, the Children of God, the Church of Scientology, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and The Way International–have received consistent coverage over the years of the anti-cult movement’s existence. Everyone who has looked at the cults agrees that the number of alternative religious groups has grown significantly during the twentieth century.

Only a few of the older cults–the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints–have attained a broad membership throughout the nation. Of those groups formed in the twentieth century, only a few, such as the American Muslim Mission (found in 1930), can count their membership in the tens of thousands. The more famous of the contemporary cults, such as the Unification Church (with 5,000 to 7,000 members) or the Hare Krishna (with approximately 2,500 initiated members), can count their membership in the thousands.

The large immigration of Asians in the last half of the nineteenth century brought the first Buddhist and Hindu teachers to the United States and threatened many West Coast residents. California could have become like Hawaii, which is one third Buddhist

The nonconventional religions also vary widely in their recruitment processes. Some, particularly those with Evangelical Christian roots (and a few which are Eastern, but reacting to Christian missionary activity) have an aggressive program of membership enlistment. Most others rely upon the distribution of literature or the sponsoring of introductory classes to which a potential convert must make the initial effort and attend.

Life in a Cult – Once a person joins a nonconventional religious group, he or she must begin to adapt to group life. New recruits will go through a program of education in group beliefs and practices.

Evangelical Christianity has been the mainstream of religion in America. In its attempts to be true to traditional Protestant Christian affirmations, it has been among the most conservative of religious forces and has commanded the largest segment of the religious public.

THE ANTI-CULT MOVEMENT:

The Problem of Religion: During the 1970s several trends in American religion came together. Since the American Revolution, this country has been shaken by periods of social protest followed by national religious revivals in which the entire population, regardless of religious affiliation, gave a heightened attention to religious concerns. During such periods, new and alternative religions have been born or given surges of growth while the more traditional churches reaped the bulk of the harvest. Such a national revival occurred in the early 1970s on the heels of the social protests of the 1960s.

The first anticult association was called the Parents’ Committee to Free Our Children from the Children of God (later shortened to “Free the Children of God,” and popularly called “FREECOG”).

From its beginning, the anticult movement focused upon a single problem, the distress of parents whose young adult sons and daughters (to whom the literature typically refers as “children” regardless of age) had abandoned home, career, college, and a “normal” future for membership in a demanding nonconventional religion (i.e., a cult).

The anti-cult movement can point to one clear success. In its first decade of activity it has impressed upon the popular consciousness a negative image of cults. The media gave the anti-cult movement widespread coverage in both magazines and newspapers, which have featured accounts of life in and out of the cults by former members.

CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST:

Because of its espousal of spiritual healing and its affirmation that Christian Science is incompatible with reliance upon materia medica, the Church of Christ, Scientist has been one of the most important of the nonconventional religions in America as well as a matter of intense controversy from the day of its founding.

The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded by Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1919) who as a young woman had been continually hobbled with poor health. In 1862 she learned of Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, a mental healer in Portland, Maine. In October of that year she traveled to Portland and placed herself under his care. She soon experienced some relief of her symptoms which she ascribed to his efforts. She became his student and took the opportunity, when offered, to pass them on to others.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS (MORMON):

The most successful of the many groups which have been labeled “cult”, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has over two million members and dominates the religious life of the Rocky Mountain area from Boise, Idaho, to Phoenix, Arizona. Started in the early nineteenth century, it has grown steadily worldwide.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, popularly called the Mormons, was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. (born December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont). As a youth, Smith had moved from Vermont to western New York, near the town of Palmyra.

In 1839 the Mormons established the community at Nauvoo, Illinois which soon grew into the largest city in the state. A new temple was begun, and the Church entered a growth phase. During this period the first of the European mission efforts (later a major source of members) was launched.

They introduced the practice of polygamy and began by setting an example for the other Church leaders. The exact number of Smith’s plural wives is still a matter of conjecture (estimates range from 27 to 84), but there is little doubt that polygamy caused immense problems for the Church.

In 1852 they announced the practice of plural marriage as public doctrine and began a battle with the United States government that was to last for the rest of the century. In 1862 the first federal anti-polygamy bill was passed, and efforts were increased to prevent its practice. These efforts were strengthened in 1882 with the passage of the Edmunds Bill, which disenfranchised all people living in polygamy, and the 5-member Utah Commission established to enforce the provisions.

During the twentieth century polygamy was eradicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but it continued in Mormon territory, especially in Mexico where it was not illegal. A large Fundamentalist (polygamy-practicing community) still exists in the Western United States and Northern Mexico.

Members of the church are expected to refrain from the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES:

Jehovah’s Witnesses are interested in you and your welfare. They want to be your friends and to tell you more about themselves, their beliefs, their organization, and how they feel about people and the world in which all of us live.

The name Jehovah appears almost 7,000 times in the original Hebrew Scriptures. Most Bibles do not show it as such but substitute “God” or “Lord” for it.

In just a century and a half the Seventh-day Adventist Church has grown from a handful of individuals, who carefully studied the Bible in their search for truth, to a world-wide community of over eight million members and millions of others who regard the Adventist Church their spiritual home. The name “Seventh-day Adventist” was chosen in 1860.

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Put 1 and 1 together, and beware of Xian fundo-leaning factions in DAP who’s agenda is not betterment of the Rakyat but self serving parasitisation of the people with a fundo slant, and even PAS’s fundo factions (God knows what these 2 top cliques leaders get up to talking about the Rakyat as if we had no choice in how we should live – DAP and PAS need to amend laws not plot and carve up Malaysia) – that may never want to end apartheid (again kudos to Hadi for sticking to distribution of power principles by not running for MB and sticking to the MP’s posts onlyb (though term limitles issue does arise), very rare this day separation of powers unlike others who hold multiple posts and undemocratically and unethically hold multiple posts (i.e. PM and Finance Minister, Council Chair and CM, MP’s seat and Assemblyman’s seat, etc.. – this is compoiunded by family members in the same position . . . ) . . . but the stand on other things is somewhat unclear to a degree and the public has no access to ask . . . ). Groups like Dong Jiao Zhong should field their own candidates, and those in DAP not of the nepotistic clique, or fence sitters, had better leave DAP if the nepotistic central committee’s family blocs cannot be displaced and join PCM or any 3rd Force parties (BN being too apartheid to vote for).

Does the UN know what is going on here in 3rd world Malaysia? Does this warrant Peacekeepers? An audit and withdrawal (also name and shame to vindicate so many victims) of offending psyche establishment ‘professionals’ degrees, or even other degree disciplines may be needed to keep some of our more ‘vocal activists’ safe from abuse? Some of us want to be among neutral citizens, live in a neutral agenda free world, not among cultists and religious fundos posing as politicians or regular citizens while claiming people they don’t like or who have different beliefs from them as being seriously mentally ill and needing to be put away, while the fundos and psyches themselves need to be put away.

I am sure this whole near 2 decades long episode has exposed a wider network of abuse and abusers that Interpol and even UN can act upon, the good guys and bad guys and their methods are now clearer outlined than ever . . . does the UN do lawsuits on behalf of peoples oppressed or abused in the 3rd world? Otherwise racists and corrupt 3rd world political warlords? Whatever citizens not of the above fundo-psyche abuse-racist types, please make sure you know why you vote for and only by the below criteria :

1) Freedom from Apartheid/Fascism
2) Freedom from Religious-Persecution/Religious-Supremacy. (anyone favouring any faith is no safe choice)
3) Equality for all ethnicities and faiths in all aspects of policy, Law and Constitution.

Scientists ‘discover how to read minds’ Published on Thursday 8 March 2012 10:00

“Mind-boggling! Science creates computer that can decode your thoughts and put them into words,” the Daily Mail’s headline exclaimed today, while The Daily Telegraph heralded an era in which a “mind-reading device could become a reality”.

You’d be forgiven for thinking famous mind readers such as Derren Brown had just produced a telepathy implant. Instead, these reports are from a small study of 15 people that culminated in researchers being able to reconstruct the sound patterns of words using brain activity alone.

This research involved attaching electrical sensors directly to brains of people undergoing brain surgery to understand how they processed individual words that were played to them. The researchers demonstrated that the brain breaks words down into complex patterns of electrical activity. They were then able to create a mathematical algorithm that decoded and translated the brain activity back into a rough version of the original sound.

But the reconstructed words were not of good enough quality to be recognised by a human listener when played. The words were only recognised when the original and reconstructed sound patterns were compared visually.

This exciting and new research does raise the prospect of brain activity one day being translated into words using an implant. Such technology could help the vast numbers of people suffering from problems affecting speech. But it is important to recognise that this research is in its very early stages and a clinically effective implant is likely to be a long way off.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by a collaboration of North American universities led by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. It was funded by several academic grants and was published in the peer-reviewed science journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology.

The researchers report that the human brain has evolved complex mechanisms to decode highly variable sounds into meaningful elements of language, such as words. Understanding this complex decoding in humans has proved difficult, as it requires recording brain activity on the exposed brain (with the skull removed).

This study took advantage of cases of rare brain surgery for epilepsy and brain tumours that allowed researchers to measure brain activity by attaching sensors directly to the brain surface. This provided a unique opportunity to understand how the human brain recognises speech.

This study received wide media coverage due to its futuristic appeal and was often given a sci-fi angle, with some suggesting a “mind-reading device could become reality”. This research does raise the possibility of developing a device that could interpret thoughts into speech in the future. However, it is important to note the authors’ own caution – that the technology of translating thoughts into words needs to be vastly improved before such a device could become a reality.

What kind of research was this?

This was a small study of 15 people undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy or brain tumour. It looked at whether the complex brain activity involved in processing spoken words, such as the sound wave form and syllable rate, could be reconstructed using a computer program.

The researchers believe that the brain processes internal thoughts in a similar way to hearing sounds, and hope that this type of technology could eventually be used to help those who cannot talk, such as those in a coma or in the much-feared “locked-in syndrome”.

What did the research involve?

Fifteen patients undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy or brain tumour were asked to listen to 47 real or invented words and sentences from different English speakers. All patients had normal language capabilities when they were enrolled in the study.

During this process electrical signals from the brain were recorded using multiple sensors attached directly to the part of the brain called the lateral temporal cortex, which includes the superior temporal gyrus (STG), thought to be very important in the processing of speech.

To understand and mimic the brain activity involved in processing heard words, the researchers used an approach referred to as “stimulus reconstruction”. In this case, the stimulus was hearing a spoken word.

Hearing words causes a large amount of brain activity involved in recognising and processing the different aspects of the sounds of the words, for example the different sound frequencies and timing of syllables. The word reconstruction involved creating a mathematical program (like that used in computer software) capable of decoding the vast amount of brain activity in such a way that it was possible to identify the original words heard by the participant.

The reconstructed signals from different mathematical models (linear and non-linear) were compared to those detected directly from the brain surface to see how good they were at mimicking the brain’s activity when hearing spoken words. The researchers also used the models to identify the most important areas of the brain involved in processing this information and what other factors influenced the accuracy of the sound reconstructions.

What were the basic results?

When constructing the mathematical models they found that the STG region of the brain was important in creating an accurate prediction of the sound pattern of the original word.

The sound patterns generated by the mathematical model allowed the identification of specific words to be generated directly from the brain activity of patients listening to the words. These took the form of visual representations of the word sound pattern. A total of 47 words were presented in pairs and, on average, the model correctly identified the word in approximately nine out of every ten instances (89%). This was significantly better than 50% correct identification, which would be seen simply by guessing.

Importantly, however, the quality produced from reconstructing the words was not good enough for them to be recognised by a human listener when played. The words were only recognised when the original and reconstructed sound patterns were compared visually.

The researchers found that different types of mathematical models performed better at reconstructing the sounds of words with particular characteristics.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The authors concluded that their results demonstrated that key aspects of speech signals can be reconstructed from STG activity.

Conclusion

This study of 15 people undergoing brain surgery has demonstrated a method of reconstructing the sound of a heard word using only the signals obtained from the brain. This study represents an important progression in the field of speech reconstruction, which has the potential to improve the lives of many who suffer from speech difficulties in the future.

But the words, when reconstructed, were not of good enough quality to be recognised by a human listener when played. The words could only be identified when the original and reconstructed sound patterns were compared visually. The researchers suggest that improving the brain sensors detecting the STG brain activity may, in the future, improve the reconstructed sound to a level that could be understood by a person listening.

The mathematical formula used to reconstruct the words is at a very early stage and would need a significant amount of improvement and development before it could be considered for use in an implant or similar device in the future. Similarly, future speech reconstruction research would need to demonstrate it was effective in a large range of words, sentence patterns and languages. Currently, the mathematical program has only been tested on a limited vocabulary of 47 English words.

This research represents an intriguing first demonstration of the potential of speech reconstruction technology to transform the lives of people with communication problems in the future.

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Then above device is used as a tool of control in the third world here. This post is for someone I know who has been implanted or believes that they have been implanted. This device is able to induce neurolepsy, cause pain and create any artificial physiological sensation. And often used in conjunction with certain psychiatric drugs according to the source. Due to work in activism of this individual and because this person is LGBT (LGBT is illegal in Malaysia), some people here have been implanted against their will in faked ‘accidents’ (according to the individual, the Seventh Day Adventists Hospital Penang is involved or has knowledge of the implant) etc..

UNHCR/WHO needs to address this if not directly involved (who would know?). I have also communicated with the Bar Council on this, I believe they are aware but collude or are disallowed from talking about or giving legal aid on this. Please or advise help if related to any medical grouping which debunks and aids in removal of such devices. Thanks.

ARTICLE 2

Schumann resonances, Electro Magnetism, and the Brain.

In 1952 Schumann mathematically predicted that the earth had a natural electromagnetic resonance.

He should have asked Tesla, who already knew this and used it to transmit electricity wirelessly.

Why is this important?

I think Electro Magnetism explains a lot of things science is trying to deny and much of parapsychology. More important all of your mental states are Schumann resonances. The Earths electromagnetic resonances affect your states of consciousness. Governments can also use them for control and manipulation.

Here are the basic Schumann Resonances; they are variable within a range as solar and cosmic radiation but are approximately:

Schumann resonances are the principal background in the electromagnetic spectrum[1] beginning at 3 Hz and extend to 60 Hz,[2] and appear as distinct peaks at extremely low frequencies (ELF) around 7.83 (fundamental),[3] 14.3, 20.8, 27.3 and 33.8 Hz.[4][5] ibed wiki

Alpha frequencies have been associated with meditation and relaxation.
Theta frequencies have been associated with a dreamy, creative states.

So do you think it is a coincidence the state where people feel in synch in meditation, and remote viewing occur happens to be when they are in synch with the earths primary resonance? I do not.

Also Science does not understand why our brain goes to delta state when we sleep. This is the point past dreaming where they say there is no sense of self or consciousness. It happens to correspond with the base Schuman resonance spike.

We do know that there are healing resonances and the healing resonance a cat uses is another Schuman resonance:

Scientists have demonstrated that cats produce the purr… frequency between 25 and 150 Hertz. Various investigators have shown that sound frequencies in this range can improve bone density and promote healing.

This association between the frequencies of cats’ purrs and improved healing of bones and muscles may provide help for some humans. Bone density loss and muscle atrophy is a serious concern for astronauts during extended periods at zero gravity. Their musculo-skeletal systems do not experience the normal stresses of physical activity, including routine standing or sitting, which requires strength for posture control.

Perhaps cats’ purring helps alleviate the dysplasia or osteoporotic conditions that are more common in their canid cousins. Although it is tempting to state that cats purr because they are happy, it is more plausible that cat purring is a means of communication and a potential source of self-healing.

If you broadcast these EM resonances into the brain you can create all sorts of interesting states of consciousness:

Interestingly enough the government knows about these frequencies and has since the 70’s planned to implement them in psychological war operations… every wonder why all those Iraqi’s just gave up? HAARP was developed shortly after this paper was written and can beam these waves anywhere in the world:

20 Ionization of the air: An abundance of negative condensation nuclei (“air ions”) in ingested air enhances alertness and exhilaration, while an excess of positive ions enhances drowsiness and depression. Calculation of the ionic balance of a target audience’s atmospheric environment will be correspondingly useful. Again this is a naturally-occurring condition – caused by such varying agents as solar ultraviolet light, lightning, and rapidly-moving water – rather than one which most be artificially created. (Detonation of nuclear weapons, however, will alter atmospheric ionization levels.) Cf. Soyke, Fred and Edmonds, Alan, The Ion Effect. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1977. 21 Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) waves: ELF waves up to 100 Hz are once more naturally occurring, but they can also be produced artificially (such as for the Navy’s Project Sanguine for submarine communication). ELF-waves are not normally noticed by the unaided senses, yet their resonant effect upon the human body has been connected to both physiological disorders and emotional distortion. Infrasound vibration (up to 20 Hz) can subliminally influence brain activity to align itself to delta, theta, alpha, or beta wave patterns, inclining an audience toward everything from alertness to passivity. Infrasound could be used tactically, as ELF-waves endure for great distances; and it could be used in conjunction with media broadcasts as well. See Playfair, Guy L. and Hill, Scott, The Cycles of Heaven. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978, pages 130-140.

Maybe not ALL those claiming the government is driving them crazy are wrong?

Some research has suggested certain frequencies might even be the explanation for ghosts:

Suggested relationship to ghost sightings
Research by Vic Tandy, a lecturer at Coventry University, suggested that an infrasonic signal of 19 Hz might be responsible for some ghost sightings. Tandy was working late one night alone in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he felt very anxious and could detect a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When Tandy turned to face the grey blob, there was nothing.
The following day, Tandy was working on his fencing foil, with the handle held in a vise. Although there was nothing touching it, the blade started to vibrate wildly. Further investigation led Tandy to discover that the extractor fan in the lab was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye given as 18 Hz by NASA.[32] This was why Tandy had seen a ghostly figure—it was an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating. The room was exactly half a wavelength in length, and the desk was in the centre, thus causing a standing wave which caused the vibration of the foil.[33]
Tandy investigated this phenomenon further and wrote a paper entitled The Ghost in the Machine.[34] Tandy carried out a number of investigations at various sites believed to be haunted, including the basement of the Tourist Information Bureau next to Coventry Cathedral[35][36] and Edinburgh Castle.[37][38]

Tesla, the inventor of many of the modern devices on which our society runs, was convinced EM was the key to unlimited free energy, communication with other sentient beings and a lot more. He would know, he spent most of his life studying EM.

Of course on his death the US Government rushed in and seized and classified his work so top secret it has yet to be revealed. And they continue to do so with so many patents in EM.

It makes you wonder… maybe our whole view of Science is being purposefully kept in the dark, and EM has the possibility of opening whole new worlds… quite literally.

Would We Have Drugged Up Einstein? How Anti-Authoritarianism Is Deemed a Mental Health Problem- We are increasingly marketing drugs that essentially “cure” anti-authoritarians. – AlterNet / By Bruce E. Levine – February 20, 2012 |

In my career as a psychologist, I have talked with hundreds of people previously diagnosed by other professionals with oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder and other psychiatric illnesses, and I am struck by 1) how many of those diagnosed are essentially anti-authoritarians; and 2) how those professionals who have diagnosed them are not.

Anti-authoritarians question whether an authority is a legitimate one before taking that authority seriously. Evaluating the legitimacy of authorities includes assessing whether or not authorities actually know what they are talking about, are honest, and care about those people who are respecting their authority. And when anti-authoritarians assess an authority to be illegitimate, they challenge and resist that authority—sometimes aggressively and sometimes passive-aggressively, sometimes wisely and sometimes not.

Some activists lament how few anti-authoritarians there appear to be in the United States. One reason could be that many natural anti-authoritarians are now psychopathologized and medicated before they achieve political consciousness of society’s most oppressive authorities.

Gaining acceptance into graduate school or medical school and achieving a PhD or MD and becoming a psychologist or psychiatrist means jumping through many hoops, all of which require much behavioral and attentional compliance with authorities, even those authorities one lacks respect for. The selection and socialization of mental health professionals tends to breed out many anti-authoritarians. Degrees and credentials are primarily badges of compliance. Those with extended schooling have lived for many years in a world where one routinely conforms to the demands of authorities. Thus for many MDs and PhDs, people different from them who reject this attentional and behavioral compliance appear to be from another world—a diagnosable one.

I have found that most psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are not only extraordinarily compliant with authorities but also unaware of the magnitude of their obedience. And it also has become clear to me that the anti-authoritarianism of their patients creates enormous anxiety for these professionals, and their anxiety fuels diagnoses and treatments.

In graduate school, I discovered that all it took to be labeled as having “issues with authority” was not kissing up to a director of clinical training whose personality was a combination of Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich and Howard Cosell. When I was told by some faculty that I had “issues with authority,” I had mixed feelings about being so labeled. On the one hand, I found it amusing, because among the working-class kids I had grown up with, I was considered relatively compliant with authorities. After all, I had done my homework, studied and received good grades. However, while my new “issues with authority” label made me grin because I was now being seen as a “bad boy,” I was also concerned about just what kind of profession I had entered. Specifically, if somebody such as myself was labeled as having “issues with authority,” what were they calling the kids I grew up with who paid attention to many things that they cared about but didn’t care enough about school to comply there? Well, the answer soon became clear.

Mental Illness Diagnoses for Anti-Authoritarians

A 2009 Psychiatric Times article titled “ADHD & ODD: Confronting the Challenges of Disruptive Behavior” reports that “disruptive disorders,” which include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and opposition defiant disorder (ODD), are the most common mental health problem of children and teenagers. ADHD is defined by poor attention and distractibility, poor self-control and impulsivity, and hyperactivity. ODD is defined as a “a pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior without the more serious violations of the basic rights of others that are seen in conduct disorder”; and ODD symptoms include “often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult requests or rules” and “often argues with adults.”

Psychologist Russell Barkley, one of mainstream mental health’s leading authorities on ADHD, says that those afflicted with ADHD have deficits in what he calls “rule-governed behavior,” as they are less responsive to rules of established authorities and less sensitive to positive or negative consequences. ODD young people, according to mainstream mental health authorities, also have these so-called deficits in rule-governed behavior, and so it is extremely common for young people to have a “dual diagnosis” of AHDH and ODD.

Do we really want to diagnose and medicate everyone with “deficits in rule-governed behavior”?

Albert Einstein, as a youth, would have likely received an ADHD diagnosis, and maybe an ODD one as well. Albert didn’t pay attention to his teachers, failed his college entrance examinations twice, and had difficulty holding jobs. However, Einstein biographer Ronald Clark (Einstein: The Life and Times) asserts that Albert’s problems did not stem from attention deficits but rather from his hatred of authoritarian, Prussian discipline in his schools. Einstein said, “The teachers in the elementary school appeared to me like sergeants and in the Gymnasium the teachers were like lieutenants.” At age 13, Einstein read Kant’s difficult Critique of Pure Reason—because he was interested in it. Clark also tells us Einstein refused to prepare himself for his college admissions as a rebellion against his father’s “unbearable” path of a “practical profession.” After he did enter college, one professor told Einstein, “You have one fault; one can’t tell you anything.” The very characteristics of Einstein that upset authorities so much were exactly the ones that allowed him to excel.

By today’s standards, Saul Alinsky, the legendary organizer and author of Reveille for Radicals and Rules for Radicals, would have certainly been diagnosed with one or more disruptive disorders. Recalling his childhood, Alinsky said, “I never thought of walking on the grass until I saw a sign saying ‘Keep off the grass.’ Then I would stomp all over it.” Alinsky also recalls a time when he was 10 or 11 and his rabbi was tutoring him in Hebrew:

One particular day I read three pages in a row without any errors in pronunciation, and suddenly a penny fell onto the Bible….Then the next day the rabbi turned up and he told me to start reading. And I wouldn’t; I just sat there in silence, refusing to read. He asked me why I was so quiet, and I said, “This time it’s a nickel or nothing.” He threw back his arm and slammed me across the room.

Many people with severe anxiety and/or depression are also anti-authoritarians. Often a major pain of their lives that fuels their anxiety and/or depression is fear that their contempt for illegitimate authorities will cause them to be financially and socially marginalized, but they fear that compliance with such illegitimate authorities will cause them existential death.

I have also spent a great deal of time with people who had at one time in their lives had thoughts and behavior that were so bizarre they were extremely frightening for their families and even themselves; they were diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses, but have fully recovered and have been, for many years, leading productive lives. Among this population, I have not met one person whom I would not consider a major anti-authoritarian. Once recovered, they have learned to channel their anti-authoritarianism into more constructive political ends, including reforming mental health treatment.

Many anti-authoritarians who earlier in their lives were diagnosed with mental illness tell me that once they were labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis, they got caught in a dilemma. Authoritarians, by definition, demand unquestioning obedience, and so any resistance to their diagnosis and treatment created enormous anxiety for authoritarian mental health professionals; and professionals, feeling out of control, labeled them “noncompliant with treatment,” increased the severity of their diagnosis, and jacked up their medications. This was enraging for these anti-authoritarians, sometimes so much so that they reacted in ways that made them appear even more frightening to their families.

There are anti-authoritarians who use psychiatric drugs to help them function, but they often reject psychiatric authorities’ explanations for why they have difficulty functioning. So, for example, they may take Adderall (an amphetamine prescribed for ADHD), but they know that their attentional problem is not a result of a biochemical brain imbalance but rather caused by a boring job. And similarly, many anti-authoritarians in highly stressful environments will occasionally take prescribed benzodiazepines such as Xanax even though they believe it would be safer to occasionally use marijuana but can’t because of drug testing on their job.

It has been my experience that many anti-authoritarians labeled with psychiatric diagnoses usually don’t reject all authorities, simply those they’ve assessed to be illegitimate ones, which just happens to be a great deal of society’s authorities.

Maintaining the Societal Status Quo

Americans have been increasingly socialized to equate inattention, anger, anxiety, and immobilizing despair with a medical condition, and to seek medical treatment rather than political remedies. What better way to maintain the status quo than to view inattention, anger, anxiety, and depression as biochemical problems of those who are mentally ill rather than normal reactions to an increasingly authoritarian society?

The reality is that depression is highly associated with societal and financial pains. One is much more likely to be depressed if one is unemployed, underemployed, on public assistance, or in debt (for documentation, see “400% Rise in Anti-Depressant Pill Use”). And ADHD-labeled kids do pay attention when they are getting paid, or when an activity is novel, interests them, or is chosen by them (documented in my book Commonsense Rebellion).

In an earlier dark age, authoritarian monarchies partnered with authoritarian religious institutions. When the world exited from this dark age and entered the Enlightenment, there was a burst of energy. Much of this revitalization had to do with risking skepticism about authoritarian and corrupt institutions and regaining confidence in one’s own mind. We are now in another dark age, only the institutions have changed. Americans desperately need anti-authoritarians to question, challenge, and resist new illegitimate authorities and regain confidence in their own common sense.

In every generation there will be authoritarians and anti-authoritarians. While it is unusual in American history for anti-authoritarians to take the kind of effective action that inspires others to successfully revolt, every once in a while a Tom Paine, Crazy Horse or Malcolm X come along. So authoritarians financially marginalize those who buck the system, they criminalize anti-authoritarianism, they psychopathologize anti-authoritarians, and they market drugs for their “cure.”
Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and author of Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite (Chelsea Green, 2011).

ARTICLE 2

The Nightshade Nightmares of the Monsters among Us. – Friday, February 24, 2012

Weird and seriously weird, appear to be the order of the day, these days. A few days ago, I noticed that Spring was here. That’s something I have always been able to sense. Several days later, it is obvious that Spring has arrived. It comes earlier in this part of Europe than most anywhere else, except the far south. This is only tangentially connected to my point; those change in seasons. It doesn’t matter that it is Spring. It could be any season. It is the change factor that is important.

Last night, I am sitting in my office, watching a movie with someone and I started getting hit with an amplified version of what I have been experiencing for a couple of months now. It was unpleasant and powerful. I took certain steps to tone it down and that worked, for awhile. I went to bed and could not sleep. In a little while this ‘attack’; I don’t know what else to call it, ratcheted up significantly. My whole body felt waves of force moving over it, like highly amplified chicken-skin, rolling over me like ocean waves. I asked for help from my invisible guardians and found myself moving my hands in unknown gestures and speaking out in an unfamiliar tongue; certainly not any of the commonly used languages of the day. This served to intensify the experience and I was told this was supposed to happen. Shortly after, most of the phenomena went away but sleep was out of the question.

After dawn had come up, I fell into uneasy dreams. The main feature was Macaroni and cheese casserole and there was a deep and powerful meaning to it (like I said, weird). I don’t think I’ve had a Macaroni and cheese casserole in years. I can’t remember the details now but I do remember that they made plenty of sense. I will be cooking one for lunch today (grin). I didn’t have any fear, while this event was taking place last night. It was just a state of discomfort, with me faced off against and confronting an unknown force. It is the same kind of thing as when we are focused on using force and concentration to accomplish a complicated and technical effort. There’s a deep assurance I have in the agencies that protect me; from myself and other things external. They tend to get me thru everything, even if the ride can be a little bumpy. Enough of that. I put this out only because I am hearing from many people about similar things. This morning I received an email from a friend who was concerned about me and who wanted me to send him a ‘smoke signal’ because he was worried about me, based on something he must have been feeling. Odd, that. Like I said, enough about all that for the moment. Let’s look at what’s going on in the world around us.

Once again, the general insanity generated by materialism, is acting up. The rank and file of humanity is certifiable. Do not get between these people and whatever it is that they want. One of the cosmic laws is ‘the more mundane and stupid any collective attraction may be, the more likely people will be inclined to kill you for it.

Another law is that the more laws that are created to protect children, the more children will be abused, tortured and killed as a result, especially if it is in Florida or California. Mickey Mouse and the gang definitely fit into all of it. California is really out there when it comes to this. It is beyond debate that California judges, state social workers and other facilitators are engaged in Satanic, child abuse rituals and in making sure that children are placed in, or returned to truly terrible conditions, where they can be harmed and tormented for extended periods of time. I have listed very little of what I have come across and using a major search engine will turn up more information than you could read and absorb in a very long time. A few months ago, more or less, there was an article that listed case after case, after case in California, where the courts were returning large numbers of children to abusive situations, when a sane and caring parent was available to receive them. In case after case, the courts returned these children into the hands of monsters, who already had a history of violating them and turned a deaf ear to the good parent; often the parent who had brought it to their attention in the first place and who was backed up by the testimony of the children and corroborating medical evidence.

Over the course of recent decades, the corrupt system of appointing the very people engaged in the crimes they are appointed, or hired to prevent, has accelerated beyond all reason. It is obvious at this point that the officials put in charge of hiring and appointing, are picking individuals with a pathological mindset for the very worst behaviors in this diseased age. Whether it is DHS, TSA, Child Protection Services, or any of the gamut of bloated and useless government agencies, they are specifically hiring criminals, perverts, troglodytes, serial sexual psychopaths and serial killers, for the very reason that they are what they are. There is no hyperbole or exaggeration here. That is how it is.

A couple of years ago, while remote viewing Obama and others of recent infamy, I saw things I don’t even want to talk about. Under certain circumstances, remote viewing is as easy as daydreaming.

Does this mean we are on a terrifying downward spiral, into an abyss of accelerating degeneracy and dysfunction, with no end in sight? No it does not. What it means is that the boundaries are being pushed to ever increasing levels of insanity, until a cosmic global reaction takes place. Portions of this are taking place at this very moment. That portion of the awakening populations are pushing back and will soon be joined by a much larger mass of their fellows, as conditions make their lives more and more unlivable and more and more dire. It is a matter of time and we are in that time frame.

Rampant materialism and the emergence of organized psychopaths and sociopaths, who flourish in this environment, are oppressing and abusing humanity, until it reaches its breaking point. The cultures of the world are being soaked in a belladonna/nightshade nightmare. Ugly things from the depth of the cosmic ooze, are surfacing like creatures from a Lovecraft novel. Those on the cutting edge of exposing these energies, conspiracies and environments, are being pounded by both visible and invisible means. It’s a hard road for those on the forefront but there is no other road that is acceptable.

These twisted abortions from the dark side of the human psyche, know that their time is coming. They cannot change and they cannot go back, so they press on in the pursuit of the destruction of all that is good and beautiful. They press on in search of ever greater violations, of innocence and every residence where the finer qualities of the human heart, are barricaded and in hiding from their pernicious advance. There is no way to put a better spin on it at this time. One can only endure and hold tight to the inevitable certainty of their demise. It is in times of trial that those hidden strengths and enduring virtues, within the human matrix, are driven forth into heroic expression out of the desperation of the times.

We have been here before. This planet is a battleground, where all that is good and enduring must come up against the temporary monstrosities, created out of our confusions and weaknesses. It is because so many of us are in a state of convenient blindness, born from self interest, that these creatures can go about their dreadful enterprises.

These fiends are worse than we know and they will never be satisfied, until the entire Earth is one big concentration camp and killing floor. They delight in the misery they bring about. They do evil for the sheer joy of it. They take an extreme pleasure in outrage and torment. They have developed a taste for it and there is no reason, rationale or restraining emotion that can be applied in any argument that will have any success, in causing them to cease and desist. They are monsters. They have forfeited every human quality, in order to be what they are. They are beyond reach of anything but the urgings and appetites of the infernal realms.

I hate to say these things. It is my nature to paint a brighter picture and to draw attention to the temporary time-line of this egregious period but it is what it is and all the promise of what is bright and beautiful and which lies ahead, does not change the conditions and concerns of the moment.

I face each day with renewed hope and faith in our finer nature, rising triumphant above the murk into a better world. I see evidence of it all around me in the basic human decency of those who soldier on through this dark night and I will not be convinced of anything short of permanent victory over these malicious agents of darkness. I know that freedom, security and strength will come out of the collective heart of our majority. We are many and they are few. May it come soon and remain for a long time, until the tears, the loss and the awful injuries are no longer even remembered.

ARTICLE 3

Youtube Fascism and Undemocracy.

Solution? Set up anotherYoutube with similar format in a 3rd world country that is not fascist in treatment of YouTube users. Any tech savvy guys want to replicate a democratic Youtube in Sarejevo for example?

Thank you for your sponsorship of The Patient Freedom from Restraint Act of 1999, H.R. 1313. Physical restraint immobilizing a person at the wrists, ankles, and neck or chest is a kind of torture psychiatrists too often wrongfully inflict on mental patients. I start to panic when I merely think about it being done to me. Thank you for your concern.

Another perhaps even worse horror psychiatrists inflict on people is permanent brain damage caused by neuroleptic drugs.

I recently met a charming young woman named Jenelle Dorner. Her story so moved me that I wrote an account of how she was damaged by neuroleptic drugs and, with her permission, posted it on the Antipsychiatry Coalition web site that I maintain. I’ve enclosed a copy of my article, which I titled “Jenelle’s Story.” Jenelle’s story illustrates what psychiatrist Peter Breggin, M.D., said in his book Psychiatric Drugs: Hazards to the Brain: By using drugs that cause brain damage, “Psychiatry has unleashed an epidemic of neurological disease on the world” one which “reaches 1 million to 2 million persons a year” (Springer, 1983, pp. 109 & 108). Jenelle’s story illustrates the failure of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to protect Americans from harmful drugs.

I propose the introduction of legislation to create a federal statute that would require the FDA to withdraw its approval of a drug if the drug causes permanent brain damage evidenced by tardive dyskinesia or dementia in more than 2% or 4% or whatever percent of patients and which would give federal district courts power to order the FDA to withdraw approval of a drug if any person files a civil action for the purpose of proving and does prove that the drug meets the statutory criteria for mandatory withdrawal of FDA approval. And I propose that the law be known as “Jenelle’s Law.”

Please read the attached article and give my proposal careful thought and let me know if you will introduce “Jenelle’s Law” for the purpose of stopping the epidemic of harm now being inflicted on millions of Americans by neuroleptic drugs.

Media Clip on Dangers of Xanax (This writer believes that ‘sudden withdrawal’ of medication method was used to intentionally cause a seizure to cause death (where heart stopped or was it lungs paralyzed, probably from drug overload and sudden withdrawal but did not die due to being apracticioner of yogic breathing exercises and being in general good health etc.) at the hands of a local pro-regime psychiatry outfit for activist work on anti-apartheid and perhaps LGBT issues (or being LGBT – more towards ‘Questioning’, but by section 377B’s 20 years and whipping, that regime thought they were being ‘merciful’ or ‘subtle’. To the largely ‘intended as anonymous’ activist who is most probably known to the local populace . . . that regime looks to have ceased this ‘chemical’ based method after implantation of ‘neurotech devices’, or systematic and complete bugging of the activist’s home, effectively imprisoning via mental duress conditions that has left the activist without any privacy : the activist has contacted the Bar Council in person but has received no response or advice relevant to prevention of further abuse, or removal of the devices implanted in a contrived car crash early 2000 s . . . – the spiritual damage caused by poisoning the victim and the poisoners souls has become quite severe on all parties . . . Xanax or any psychiatric drug administered by domestic terrorists dispensing poisons, does not only affect the physical body, but the ethereal and astral bodies, and in spiritually advanced persons who are here on a particular mission (i.e. ending apartheid), the consequences can be particularly disasterous . . . many otherwise viable candidats for politics could be consistently sabotaged in this manner, even throughout the 1st world, be aware and connect the dots before going on that shooting or knifing spree . . .

ARTICLE 2

INFORMED CONSENT: REALITY OR MYTH?

Informed consent represents the single most important issue in the delivery of health care. Informed consent exists only when there is full disclose of known relevant information and known risk presented to the patient in a manner that they can understand. There are patients who did not understand that the surgical “mastectomy” they agreed to undergo involved removal of their breast. The text, shown above, a work of fiction by Roger Radford, hit close to home on the subject of adhesive arachnoiditis; a present and real worldwide health care problem.

In the “real world” in which we exist there are often procedural modifiers which influence “full disclosure.” Some of these have legitimacy and some do not. It is not unusual to see a court setting as the venue by which resolution of these issues is being attempted. One such situation is whether a medical treatment or surgery being recommended or performed is “accepted”, “standard” or “approved” and from whence the authority to determine this exists.

The challenge in determining “informed consent” becomes even greater when it becomes apparent that there are significant disparities in the definition of the terms being used. In fact this confusion may be taken advantage of this to promote secular interests and agendas. Medical malpractice cases based on informed consent issues (rather than negligence) as sometimes considered to represent the “soft” side of forensic medicine. This litigation is, however, an important “safety net” for society. It is unfortunate, but true, that informed consent sometimes been subject to serious abuse for the purpose of personal gain. Examples of such are failure to make patients aware of minimally invasive uterine artery embolization instead of surgical hysterectomy, minimally invasive aneurysm coiling instead of open cranial surgery and reconstructive spine surgery as opposed to multi-level pedicle screw and rod “fusions.”

It is true that the practice of medicine has never related to certainties. Treatment is based on best information. Evidence based medicine consists of careful clinical observation and experience combined with the best scientific data available. The notion that there is no empirical basis upon which to draw valid inferences and render reasonable judgments in the treatment of patients is false. On the other hand there also exists important scientific information which never seems to make itself known to physicians responsible for patient care. As medical practice progresses in time it becomes smarter and learns of risk factors which were previously unknown or unappreciated. Sometimes this knowledge is privy to some who purposely do not release it or act to obfuscate it for personal gain. The actions of the tobacco industry, over the past 50 years, makes this point. Yet, an important landmark in forensic medicine is “what was known, and when was it known” as a determinant of informed consent.

An interesting example of this is the issue of chronic respiratory disease related to exposure to asbestos fibers. There is a great deal of ongoing litigation against manufacturers of such products. For the most part exposure to asbestos occurred during a period of time when neither the manufacturers, the workers or their physicians were unaware of asbestos toxicity. Where the are the benchmarks? How can we create expectations which are smarter than we are?

The phenomenon of “managed care” has introduced additional challenges to the concept of “informed consent.” In their quest to justify denial of coverage for their subscribers many third party payors, seeking an opportunity to say “no” to treatment being recommended for a patient, often use the term “not proven” or “experimental” as a means of denying coverage. What is the legal ramification of this to the physician recommending treatment? What are the legal ramifications when care is denied and an alternative treatment goes “wrong.” Who has the legal responsibility? Well, up-to-now the physician has been left “blowing in the wind” on this issue. The “worm ” is, however, “turning.” Now that the unique immunity against legal suit provided by ERISA is in the slow process of being stripped away by the courts the health care “playing field” may, finally, become more level.

A level playing field is particularly needed in the arena of informed consent because full disclosure of risk is typically taken to be a medical “right” in the United States (as well as a primary “standard of care”). This is an interesting phenomenon because this concept varies considerably throughout the world (as demonstrated by the Burton Experience in the Soviet Union in the 1970s). In the real natural world there are no “rights” for animals (astutely pointed out by Charles Darwin). If each of us were placed naked in the center of a dense tropical jungle and we had to fend for ourselves we would discover what Darwin had in mind.

As the human race evolved on planet earth only those humans who possessed power had “rights.” In medieval times only the monarchs and the nobility held “rights. When the United States was young Thomas Paine and James Madison observed that rights were divided into “natural rights” (i.e. freedom of thought and speech) and “civil rights” (i.e. the right to trial by jury). Informed consent is a civil right”, more specifically a conceptual “patient right.” Other important conceptual “patient right” is that of the expectation of being provided with respect and consideration from a heath care system.

The Burton Report® is a strong advocate of real informed consent. This requires the clear presentation, to a patient, of all significant potential risk. The Burton Report® is also a strong proponent of providing patients respect and consideration.

Another position of Burton Report® is against the banning of any drug or therapy. Banning is the making of rules “which are smarter than we are.” One never knows when a toxic substance can be of benefit (i.e. thalidomide and botox). The better approach for the patient, and society, is real informed consent.

Clearly, the United States is the world leader in regard to disclosure of risk to patients. Even so there continues to be serious inadequacies and transgressions of this process which need attention. This is, at times, difficult to address because the concept of “rights” in the United States has burst asunder to finally reach a level of true frivolity. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise in a society where legal suits have become, as George F. Will has observed: simply a part of “a great American growth industry, litigation that expresses the belief that everyone has an entitlement to compensation for any unpleasantness.”

When one considers all the attention which has been focused on the issue of informed consent over the past few years it may seem surprising to learn that important areas of medical diagnosis and treatment still exist where full disclosure of risk has never been provided in the past and has continued to be seriously deficient in the present.

A look at the record confirms the point. Only recently have the adverse effects of particulate radiation, exposure to toxic chemicals and cellular damage resulting from nicotine and carbon monoxide poisoning (from cigarette smoking) been disclosed. It is important to note that most of this has occurred only as the result of litigation reflecting plaintiff rage and not as a result of governmental or medical intervention.

A good case in point is that of cigarette smoking. From a medical standpoint, the toxic effects of cigarette smoking appear to represent the single most adverse known chronic health liability, from an external source, directed to the human body. Remarkably, it has only been since 1997, when, as a direct response to legal actions, the actual ingredients of some cigarettes were finally disclosed to the public.

Once again, were it not for the existence of legal process to unravel the cover-up contrived by the tobacco industry the release of this important information might never have occurred. One indication of society’s patience wearing thin was the shock therapy administered to the tobacco industry on June 7, 2001 when a Los Angeles jury awarded $3 billon in punitive damages to a longtime smoker with lung cancer. A key element in the resolution of this case for the plaintiff was the introduction of a 1972 memo written by a Tobacco Institute executive pointing out how the tobacco industry had successfully undercut public health concerns about the cancer risk of smoking by “creating doubt…without actually denying it” (Geyelin M: Former Two-Pack-a-Day Man Finally Satisfied His Urge to Sue, Wall St. Jour., June 8, 2001). The fall-out from this decision continues with punitive damages being awarded against the tobacco industry for continuing “nefarious” behavior (Judge awards $15 million in punitive damages in tobacco case against R.J. Reynolds, Associated Press, June 22, 2002).

Most interested patients in the United States today are reasonably cognizant of risk factors as more trustworthy information continues to appear on the internet. There are, however, a number of areas where informed consent remains, quite remarkably, almost absent. In fact there are a number of examples of serious health risks which have continued unabated over many years (and sometimes decades). Many of these are still unassociated with adequate public disclosure and few in the legal profession have yet “stepped up to the plate” to assist in assisting the public interest.

One of the most serious examples of this has been, and continues to be, the disabling complications resulting from the introduction of foreign body substances into the subarachnoid space for the purpose of myelography as well as ill-advised epidural steroid injections. The disease complication is that of clinically significant adhesive arachnoiditis. This particular entity represents one of the most flagrant examples of a ongoing world-wide serious public health problem due to many years of industry misinformation and cover-up. Patient suffering secondary to adhesive arachnoiditis serves as a frightening example of an area where, at the beginning of the 21st century it is difficult to find a single patient who has ever been provided with real informed consent in this area.

What about the physicians? As adhesive arachnoiditis expert Sarah Smith points out:

“What concerns me is that if the person informing the patient is themselves poorly or inaccurately informed then how on earth can consent ever be truly informed?”

In association with this remain remarkable examples of continuing medical ignorance relating to commonly performed procedures. Medical informed consent is unlikely when the usual material provided to the public, by their physicians, ignores the most significant risk factors?

No area of informed consent is more important than that of medical research and the involvement of human subjects. How can patients know the risks if they are basically unknown to science as well as the medical profession? Unquestionably, gene research will play a very important role in future medical therapy. Gene therapy represents a challenging voyage into uncharted water where the benefits for all mankind may be historic. How do we know what we don’t know, and how does informed consent fit into this picture?

Summary:

It is clear that there is no risk-free state in medicine. What then are the risks of surgery? In the field of spine surgery all patients run the risk of dying, being paralyzed, experiencing a nerve injury, wound infection, medical problem, drug reaction, etc. Actually most of these serious risks also exist when the patient drives to the hospital. As an example, the United States government reported that in 1998 alone 41,480 people died from auto accidents.

Informed consent is an essential requirement for the well-being of any modern health care system in the 21st century. Informed consent is based on full disclosure of known significant risk (the easy part). Full disclosure of all “relevant information” is the murky component, particularly from the standpoint of jurisprudal machinations and contrived governmental anomalies. Informed consent litigation has created a great deal of “busy work” for attorneys. Much of this litigation has wasted large amounts of time, talent and resource which could have been put to better use in the courtroom by pursuing more important areas of societal need. The need the create clearly defined requirements for patient protection, taking into account the rapidly changing landscape, is an important priority for the 21st century.

ARTICLE 3

Lumbo-Sacral Adhesive Arachnoiditis – Introduction

There is no area of medicine today where greater, or more cruel suffering has been created in large populations of patients throughout the globe than those directly related to adhesive arachnoiditis of which the most common form is in the lumbo-sacral area. Whether due to apathy, disinterest, indifference or self-protective behavior by the medical, scientific and governmental communities lumbo-sacral adhesive arachnoiditis (LSAA) and it’s potential liabilities continues to remain essentially unknown, unreported, and unrecognized among both physicians and patients.

An important reason for this state of affairs has been the pattern of organized deception and obfuscation in regard to the safety and efficacy of oil myelographic substances such as Pantopaque® and Myodil® perpetrated by some of the originators and manufacturers of iophendylate for over half a century. This “bodyguard of misrepresentation” and “damage control” by company lawyers has been effective in insuring that governmental agencies, physicians and patients have not been allowed to fully appreciate the risks inherent in introducing highly toxic substances into the sub-arachnoid space. By not focusing, or adequately propagating, what is known scientifically regarding LSAA it has continued to be a serious world public health challenge and something which is continuously being perpetrated on unsuspecting patients by their uninformed physicians.

Even today the world community has still not yet come to grips with this cruel phenomenon nor has it yet demonstrated an appropriate social conscience regarding this disease entity. LSAA continues to be a trail of tragedy for many unfortunate patients and new cases appear on a regular basis because of our failure to learn from history. This regrettable situation has tended to cast those health care professionals who have tried to sound this alarm in a role similar to that of Dr. Peter Stockmann, the hero of Hendrik Ibsen’s 1882 play “An Enemy of the People.”

What determines whether or not the pathologic entity LSAA produces significant or disabling pain and neurologic impairment has a lot to do with how active or passive the meningeal reaction is. Because of the human nervous system’s remarkable abilities to recover from insult if given the opportunity many patients with LSAA are asymptomatic but exist in a precarious balance where things could easily change for the worse if a patient is subject to additional insult.

Remarkably there are still those who actually insist that the pathologic entity LSAA “does not even exist .” Fortunately these individuals belong to the ever-diminishing circle of those who also believe that:

The Holocaust never happened.
Americans never really landed on the moon (it was staged).
September 11, 2001 was really an Israeli plot.

The saga of adhesive arachnoiditis is not just something of historical interest. In no area of medicine has failure of “informed consent” been more evident than in the continuing saga of this disease process. The discussion of this rather incredible and continuing misadventure, which focuses on the neurotoxicity of foreign body substances being introduced into the subarachnoid space for the purposes of myelography and epidural steroid administration, begins with a review of these subjects:

Myelography

Myelography, is an invasive diagnostic test in which a radio-opaque substance is placed in the subarachnoid space so that the space can be visualized by x-ray. The first contrast material used for this purpose was air. Air myelography developed from innovations in air ventriculography and air encephalography started in 1918, by Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Walter Dandy. Because air was difficult to visualize on x-ray a search for alternatives began. In 1932 thorium dioxide (Thorotrast®) was first introduced. It appeared to be ideal for the purpose of myelography (and other diagnostic studies) and were it not for the fact that it was radioactive it would have been. Thorium dioxide turned out to be a highly toxic radioactive substance. It was only 20-30 years after its introduction that the medical profession began to suspect that the sudden and unusually high incidence of malignancies involving the brain and spinal cord (as well as adhesive arachnoiditis) might be related to thorium dioxide’s radioactivity. At this point this myelographic agent “fell into disuse.”

Epidural Steroids

The “epidural” space is separated from the subarachnoid space only by the thin dura mater membrane and its associated filamentous pia mater. Epidural steroid administration is an empiric therapeutic modality commonly performed for the treatment of low back disorders. If the steroid is inadvertently injected into the subarachnoid space rather than the epidural space serious disability and incapacitation can result. Although all foreign body substances introduced into the subarachnoid space are “irritating” others can be highly neurotoxic. The most significant example of such neurotoxic agents are those containing ethylene glycols to allow for slow release (i.e. Depo-Medrol® , Depo-Medrone®, Aristocort® and Methylprednisolone Suspension®). When introduced into the subarachnoid space these materials can be highly neurotoxic and productive of a potentially disabling condition referred to as adhesive arachnoiditis. Since none of these steroids is approved, by their manufacturers, for epidural injection, and that they are clearly know to be toxic if misinjected, it is interesting to note that they still appear to be used by the majority of physicians now performing epidural steroid injections.

A prudent individual would assume that the medical leaders in performing, teaching, and publishing on epidural steroids would be acutely cognizant of the most potentially serious patient complication of “epidural” steroid administration. The facts suggest otherwise. A prominent medical publisher, publishing 16 spine-related patient manuals including “Lumbar Epidural Injection” and “Cervical Epidural Injection” has, under the section on “risks and complications”, made no mention of adhesive arachnoiditis, the most serious potential complication of epidural steroid administration. This is despite the fact that new cases of incapacitating adhesive arachnoiditis directly related to inadvertent subarachnoid administration of neurotoxic steroids are being diagnosed by spine specialists on a continuing basis.

Are there alternatives to potentially neurotoxic formulations of methyl- prednisolone for epidural administration? Indeed there are. Why are they not used? The best answer is colossal ignorance, indifference, deception, or worse. Methyl prednisolone “suspensions” have neither “fallen into disuse” nor have they been officially identified as being a serious potential risk to the public health in any country at this time. What does this revelation mean in regard to informed consent? Might viewing Burton Report® allow patients to ask the right questions as to just which drugs will be injected and techniques used prior to therapy? Will physicians, because of these questions from informed patients, begin to modify their practice? We certainly hope so. It is sad to observe that once again, the public may be forced to call upon the good offices of the legal profession to help in promoting awareness of this clear and present danger because of failure by the health care establishment and elected officials to accept responsibility and become involved.

Intrathecal Catheters

The use of intrathecally placed (within the subarachnoid space) catheters for the purpose of delivering drugs (i.e. morphine for pain relief, baclofin for control of spasm) is not without risk of producing local adhesive arachnoiditis. These catheters can produce focal adhesive arachnoiditis, cysts and other inflammatory problems. That such risks exist should be explained to patients as part of the preoperative informed consent process. It should also be an important part of the risk versus benefit consideration for even considering such therapy in patients with normal life expectancies.

Summary

Clinically significant lumbo-sacral adhesive arachnoiditis is a particularly cruel disease because of the nature of the pain syndrome associated with it. Yet, its pathophysiology is well understood and is no mystery. Yet, for those desiring an objective determination of the existence or absence of adhesive arachnoiditis non-invasive high-resolution MRI scans have now allowed definitive determination of this frightening pathologic entity.

The nature of the pain associated with adhesive arachnoiditis is uniquely incapacitating and dolorologists have created the term “regional complex pain disorder” (RCPD) to describe it. Apologists for those who have created adhesive arachnoiditis and RCPD in patients have pointed out that only 1-5% of those with the condition actually have the full-blown clinical symptoms (which can include progressive neurologic deficit and even death). The reason for this is interesting and appears to relate to the remarkable ability of the nervous system, with its great reserve and redundancy, to cope with severe insult and injury (if applied in a gradual fashion). It appears that despite being enmeshed in solid collagenous scar tissue and being deprived of the nurturing of cerebrospinal fluid and its normal vascular supply nerve cells can often achieve a tenuous equilibrium. This delicate balance can, however, be easily upset by additional insult or injury (i.e. spinal surgery or a motor vehicle accident releasing blood into the subarachnoid space).

There are a number of other neurologic parallels to the phenomenon of nervous system acclimization. One such is the “post-polio syndrome” where individuals afflicted with poliomyelitis early in life may make complete functional recoveries but as they age they experience progressive weakness. In this circumstance polio has destroyed the neuronal reserve and normal function belies the fact that there is no reserve. As the normal process of aging occurs and neurons die by attrition the lack of reserve is evidenced by the inability of the few remaining viable neurons to handle the challenge of normal function. The human body functions well with only one kidney, one lung etc. No one would dare to suggest that the loss of these organs was not inconsequential to the welfare of the individual. In the case of adhesive arachnoiditis the story has, unfortunately to date, been different.

Expressions of plight by individuals suffering with adhesive arachnoiditis are common. The many individuals legitimately suffering from adhesive arachnoiditis often are undiagnosed only because of healthcare establishment inadequacies. The legitimate disability of these unfortunates is then looked upon with distain by the medical and legislative communities who, because of their own diagnostic limitations, tend too often to consider these patients to be malingerers (or worse). The sad result of this are legions of patients seeking only the dignity of a definitive diagnosis from professional groups and organizations whose skill at evasion and cover-up have unfortunately exceeded their other talents. The disrespectful manner in which many countries have treated these unfortunates, whose only crime was not knowing the right questions to ask before a “minimally invasive” myelogram or epidural steroid injection was performed, has been sad to see.

Sadly, the rare examples where recourse has occurred typically has represented the compassion of the legal profession again serving as a societal “safety net.” Even so legal attempts at legitimate recourse have been hampered by unrealistic “statue of limitation” requirements. Unfortunately, tort litigation reform has focused only on limiting the liability of transgressors so that their exposure becomes only a “business expense” and not something which will actually change their behavior.

The Editor, as a health care professional who has been concerned with the subject of neurotoxicity and patients suffering from adhesive arachnoiditis for over a quarter of a century has, as his only excuse for becoming involved in an issue emulating Hendrik Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People”, is not being “smart enough to know when to quit.”

Symbolism of the Opium bed = Psychiatrists couch dawned upon me while doing casual searches for old opium posters.

This is where the drug is administered under neuotech control, to induce neurotech control.

The NLP, perhaps psychic, links are based on/intended for sequestration of Opium’s ‘power’ by HUMAN BEINGS, namely psychiatrists who probably are chemically (enhanced) tghe same way non-psychiatrists are chemically suppressed so that the SOUL or tretment of SOUL nominally formerly the realm of shamans and soothsayers, are now dominated byu chemiocally drugged up people with no morals.

This allows ‘peaceful feelings’ to become a franchise CONTROLLED by psychiatrists and their drugged up natures (taking drugs to increase telepathy, stronger control of other minds via good drugs), as well as their drugged up (weakened via bad drugs) ‘clients’ who will have to PAY them for their addiction POSING as pharma drugs. This is denounced by ANY and ALL countries which have a legalized drug law. Instead of creating dependency and high fees for profiteering psychiatrists, the honest government legalizes.

The psyche establishment in the 3rd world is thus complicit in addicting populations unawares, perhaps via foods, or other beverages to addict at cost.

Getting married at 14 – 9 December 2010 | Save The Children | Posted by Noreen Ariff (exchange/discussion on early marriage)

News that a 22 year old school teacher had got married to a 14 year old girl has caused shockwaves in Malaysia, reverberating around the world. Recall what it was like to be 14 again, and consider if such marriages really can hold water under the law.

I still remember the 14th year of my life vividly. Every day I would wake up early in the morning to catch the morning bus to go to religious school. It lasted for 3 hours every day where afterwards I would go home and get ready to go to normal school ( this of course doesn’t mean that religious school is abnormal, I can’t think of a better description of a day school). Once in school, my friends and I would chat and chat about homework, gossiped about girls that we didn’t like and the latest boy bands that had got our fancy.

This routine continued every day for 5 days a week. Saturdays were for girl-guides and other clubs and as soon as my activities finished, I would catch a bus straight home to watch cartoons and old Malay movies on the then Singaporean Channel 5. Sundays were cartoons, 90210 and homework, lots and lots of homework. In between I would call my best friend, and we would chat and chat to our hearts content. Of course I had to help out with the household chores but let’s leave that out. In short, life was bliss. It had only one purpose: to be a kid.

My body was also changing. I had stopped wearing training bras and began using the real ones. I had gotten my period which was a bit of bother. At 14, I had only the slightest idea about sex. Sex out of wedlock is a no-no in Islam and from the medical books I read, the idea of sex actually grossed me out. I only properly learnt about the human reproduction system at 15, in science class. So at 14, I would say that I was still very awkward and blur. Did I feel and did my mum think that I was an adult just because I had breasts and was menstruating once a month? I don’t think so.

Yes, I wanted to have a boyfriend then, but at 14 marriage was the last thing on my mind. The main focus in life was to do well in school and get into a reputable university so that I can get a high-paying job, buy everything that I ever wanted, travel the world and change it. If my mum wanted to marry me off then, I would have rebelled and ran away from home because in my mind child marriages only exist in third-world countries where women were not educated, where her family had no means to support her and she had to depend on men.

I must have forgotten that Malaysia is a third-world country with third-world mentalities dominating our minds as if we had no other choice. I must have forgotten that not all parents are the same. Not all parents think that 14 year olds are kids, nor understand that having breasts and menstruation do not make these kids adults. Not all parents are patient enough to go through tough teenage years with their kids and encourage them to forget about the opposite sex for a while and stay focused on themselves and their studies.

I must have also forgotten that not all teachers are educators. I must have forgotten that once upon a time our Prophet Muhammad PBUH married Aishah, who was still a child and that is why some Muslims think it’s okay for a kid to get married. I must have forgotten that once a upon a time, Mansor Adabi a teacher of 22 years of age married Natrah, who was then 13 and our grandparents thought nothing of it.

I have forgotten that times may have changed but some minds are still trapped in the Stone Age.

I doubt Prophet Muhammed PBUH would have married Aishah if he was a prophet now and yes, I doubt Mansor Adabi and Natrah would have gotten married. The circumstances would have been different. Primary and secondary education in Malaysia now is free and available to all. Malaysian women have made it to the top echelons of organisations. I am sure these women would not be where they are right now if they had gotten married at 14. (Blesphemy! Lol, jk, but it’s a good thing Noreen is not in the worst of the Muslim world. Noreen’d be strung up and quartered, keel hauled, FGMed or whatever.)

I am appalled that after all these years there are still parents who allow their underage kids to get married and even more when their insanity is entertained by the Syariah Court who consented to these marriages. The country was just shocked by the news of the 11 year old who got married to an old man, we are now faced with news of a celebration of a 14 year old kid who got married to a 23 year old primary school teacher. The kid was quoted as saying “it’s going to be hard to juggle two roles – a student and a wife- but I’m taking it in my stride”.

I am wondering whether she fully understands what she has gotten herself into. Marriage is not about copulating and procreating alone. Everything might be rosy right now but how would she feel in a couple of years, if not months? While her friends woke up to go to school, studying or eyeing on the most good looking guy in school, she has to wake up, get the breakfast ready for her husband and after school, while others went straight to bury themselves in homework and tuition, she has to cook, wash, clean the house before night time where she has to do her wifely duties. How would she cope with pregnancy and morning sickness? She would have to miss school and probably even more after she gave birth. When her friends are burning the midnight oil for PMR and SPM, she is awake at night tending to her babies. What would she decide, if let’s say she got a place at a university that is far away from the place her husband is working. What we she do when she met a lot more men when she grew up? Would she still love her husband or resent him?

Did the Syariah Court, her parents and hubby think of all these? What are the criteria before such a marriage is allowed? Section 8 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 merely states:

No marriage may be solemnized under this Act where either the man is under the age of eighteen or the woman is under the age of sixteen except where the Syariah Judge has granted his permission in writing in certain circumstances.

By this section alone, there are no guidelines or fixed criteria on what constitutes “certain circumstances”. If there were guidelines, I just hope they are not parents’ consent, ability of the future husband to support and the girl has reached puberty!

Getting married just to stop the couple from any immoral behaviour is the smallest aspect of things; parents should look into the bigger spectrum of life. Perhaps they should start by watching the movie Juno or An Education (haha)! Your 14 year old kid may be getting her periods, with breasts, stopped playing with Barbie dolls and all – but they are still kids. Parents should know that teenage girls are also easily attracted to older men who seem to know the world. If only the girls waited a little longer, they would know that they too can have the world, on their own.

If the parents can’t see the big picture, the husband, who is a 23 year old teacher, should be able to. He after all is supposed to be educated and more level-minded. Having people like him as teachers makes me wonder about the quality of people allowed to be teachers of our future generation?

Teachers are not here just to teach but they are supposed to inspire our kids to reach their fullest potential. Here we have a teacher who got involved with an underage girl and in marrying her, he had coincidentally robbed her of her childhood. Something that he probably had, how would he feel if he got married at 14? Somehow he has no qualms from robbing his wife from hers. How is this teacher going to be a role model to his students in school? What is he going to say to his students, study and get married or enjoy your school life, get a job, be the best in what you do and then settle down? If he truly loved this girl, he would wait.

If the parents were responsible parents, they would have lodged a complaint against this teacher and get him transferred and as far away as possible from their daughter. Their daughter has a right to have her childhood and if Article 5 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia means more than the right to live and includes the quality of life, then the parents, husband and the Sharia Court have clearly violated one of the most fundamental liberties of the Constitution.

It is a travesty when on the one hand rape with minors is considered statutory rape because they are under the age of consent and on the other marriages with minors are allowed. I am not saying the teacher is a paedophile but if he was, paedophiles should not be punished by allowing them to get married. Section 8 of the Islamic Family Law and any law of its kind should be repealed.

The 14 year old kid should stay a kid, no matter how much she wanted to get married; she is still a kid. There is a saying that childhood is the most beautiful of life’s seasons so do not lose it by rushing to grow up. If the parents and the guy truly loved her, they should encourage her to choose school, study, friends, gossiping with other girls about the best looking guy in their class, choose love and lost and love again, choose university, choose a career, choose independence. Do not choose marriage at the age of 14, do not make that mistake.

Choose life. Marriage at 14 is not a life.

Noreen Ariff loves being single but yes, she would like to get married…someday. She believes that people should only get married when they are mentally, emotionally and financially ready. Her LoyarBurokking here is on her own time, and her own views. They bear no reflection on the organisation she works for.

44 Responses to Getting married at 14

AgreeToDisagree
21 December 2010 – 9:16 am

hi @pointofview

Thanks for the kind word. I don’t like leaving room for misunderstanding by keeping elegantly silent or keeping people misinformed to empower myself, or to cause others to err then blame them, or give others reason to ostracise or abuse them after intentionally causing them to trip up (first hand to the N-th here), and this is the only principled way to communicate.

By being on an even playing field, though ‘stupidos’ could also be propagandists and advocates of authoritarianism via neurolinguistic programming half the time seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

These mental goons probably seek to propagate acceptance of 3rd world paradigms of tasering, abusive attitudes by counter staff, abuse of citizens by enforcement, shoot-first policy, entrapment, electronic harrassment, alongside other miserable and inhuman methods to enslave and contaminate democratic principles with grey area abuses while their family Oligarchs reserve MP seats and hand down the same MP seats between their children and grandchildren or sometimes partly hidden through cosanguinity (imagine Khairy marrying Nurul or something along those lines or every former PM’s child being a Minister or PM) . . . you get the picture (thats also how UMNO imploded with Pak-Lah-KJ vs. dr.Evil-Mukhriz creating so much resentment that so many disappointed voters ran for Pakatan and the same in Pakatan now causing voters to run for MCLM and KITA or becoming independents).

It is sheer inadequacy that makes these insane people go around spreading rumours or harming others. It is worse when those listening and believing the rumours are induced to act. What kind of justice or reparation can be sought? Those who broke the law should be punished accordingly or at the very least in kind. We have to keep aware and alert the public to such behaviour and seek to prevent continuation of such behaviour via educating the voters on such issues and building awareness for everyone to be wary of the modus operandi of such abusers.

And as we know a large portion of crimes are done by people who know the victim, so don’t be too excited or flattered or frightened by sudden boons or banes in the form of people or gift horses, they are easily inventions of the sick society we live in, right all the way up to the political parties in power.

pointofview
20 December 2010 – 10:32 pm

@ Agreetodisagree

I salute you for the facts that you have mentioned in your earlier comments to date. It is pointless to go into an argument or battle with some stupidos who can’t think out of the box. Anyway, bravo for justifying your points.

@ SiewEng

Yes, she made the right choice for her. A man and a woman or should I say a boy and a girl can meet in any circumstances, there shouldn’t be so much emphasize on the teacher student relationship. How if the cupid’s arrow striked between a doctor (a man) and a patient (a young girl 14 maybe)? Love is blind darling. It’s good if it ends up with marriage rather than other social ill issues. Right?

And as for others who have commented here…. start thinking out of the box. It looks like you guys are the ones living in the primitive world… go figure…

siewchinteo
20 December 2010 – 6:24 pm

at times it is difficult to reconcile how a person who “thinks out of the box” can actually accept hudud law…..or any restrictive law for that matter.

but what do i know – i am 3rd world and supports chopping off the head of anyone who harms a child.

AgreeToDisagree
20 December 2010 – 2:38 pm

No wonder the quality of our legal system is dropping. We have someone ready to deny facts than face them.

1) I understand every word that you have used in your reply . . .

But you lack the EQ or are afraid to absorb it.

2) But I think I speak on behalf of everyone here when I say, they seem to mean nothing when read as a sentence. Lol.

I don’t think so. If you read without thinking or trying to understand what is written that usually ends up bring the case.

3) No such thing as constitutional amendment when the basic structure of the constitution does not envisage the hudud law……ever!

Hudud does not need to exist upon Constitution. It exists in the hearts of the faithful in Islam, and those willing to be punished under it’s auspices. If you are a disciplined Muslim or a non-Muslim, no need to fear Hudud.

I keep walking into rooms full of establishment minded people who are unable to employ either critical or lateral thought. Or who wish to keep their fellow citizens in an easy manipulated state? I will presume you belong to the former category and so the responsibility falls upon to debunk yet again.

Hudud Whipping? A Hudud signatory could call it a BDSM club with no physical contact to remain legal in Islam.

Hudud limb removal as pubnishment? A Hudud signatory could claim it was an association for treatment of body integrity identity disorder (BIID).

If Hudud is applied anywhere consensually under the above, the Federal Parliament have no say. And though it VAINLY claims to have the right to, the claim is absolutely inapplicable and should not even be brazenly misrepresented as being applicable. Dishonesty is a terrible sickness of so-called ‘Democratic Governments’.

QUOTE Journal of Applied Philosophy – “amputations should be morally permissible” on the grounds that people with BIID are not “globally irrational”. UNQUOTE

On this technicality and by the methods above, Hudud could be applied.

IT IS THEIR BODY, SO THEIR RIGHT ANYWAY, not for anyone to deny or legislate. More authoritarianism on your part? The constitution is a guideline that can change with time thats why there are CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. Given the sorry state of Malysia’s judiciary and political paradigms though these CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS have not been applied.

The right to Hudud punishments is a negative freedom but still a freedom nonetheless. No group of citizens via rule of mob or supposed right of larger numbers, might in numbers has any right to enforce ANYTHING on anyone. That is application of ETHICAL principles to a very difficult issue.

The as you call it, ‘fucking’ constitution. doesn’t work and should be amended but isn’t amended because we have lgislators busy trying to steal taxpayer monies who do not understand that Constitution is a living breathing document that needs to have changes to accomodate the PEOPLE, *NOT* the PEOPLE change to suit it because numerically they are out numbered, by force of arms even!

No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it. In the context of consensual Hudud vs. an inapplicable Constitution, guess where the Spirit of the Law lies? And that my ethically unaware or lazy minded friend, is the essence of Civilisation as opposed to the attitude of Malicious Compliance or brute force and punishment based on inapplicable words on a piece of paper. Teach a child to think by giving freedom, not hit a child into not thinking or imprison. Of course sheep are easier to herd, so it is easy to see who intends his charges well and who inevitably ends up abusing them.

The principle is the issue of victimlessness of an action and the right to self determinism. If there are spaces that can be made for whatever they wish experience, just you remember that the world and lands on the world belong to EVERYONE not those most numerous, with the most powerful weapons or the loudest voices or the ability to impose fines and jail terms by force of arms. The ethics of civilisation, be aware and apply!

This civilisation, the display of the tolerance of man, for the relatively minor weirdness that constitutes a mere fraction of the LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES of what we perceive as reality.

Remember Stephen Hawking’s comments on Cthulu? Start thinking out of that box and stop putting people into it because you are too weak minded or LAZY minded. So many narrow minded and authoritarian people around? Making excuses for weak mindedness. Stop being lazy and TEACH responsibility not introduce/impose the Crutches of Authoritarianism on your fellow sentients. In a short while we could very well be having bio-engineered lifeforms ‘Spore’ style and brain transplants to boot alongside all manner of cybernetics. Does this mean a group who can’t wrap their head around these concepts has a right to demand others not be allowed to partake (after extensive ETHICAL testing to ensure no unwanted fallout occurs by any chance of course)?

“The tyranny of the many would be when one body takes over the rights of others, and then exercises its power to change the laws in its favor.” – Voltaire

So don’t tell me Hudud is so shocking. Its really very dull and not something I would chose, *BUT* the principal of the matter is that it’s that person’s choice and to respect God given free will and self determinism, we must at least make space for them to choose their own path. The world belongs to EVERYONE not the ‘majority’ alone. Spirit of Law. No more of this crudity, even against crudity.

For example, look at Section 377B, doesn’t exist in India or England. So why is it maintained here? To be used as a weapon. Every Malaysian who has had oral sex is guilty 377B and should be imprisoned 20 years and whipped. Were government to apply such laws instead of amending them, then we’d all be in prison.

So do you think the Constitution can be applied to Hudud even?

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for

people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

– Noam Chomsky

As Anwar was a victim of entrapment, so this trial doesn’t count. When a kangaroo court is in session, another political enemy is made to bite the dust. Again spirit of the law trampled by the judiciary’s negligence to amend, by unconstitutional powers to appoint judges, by abusing where people find most pleasure or necessity (like extreme taxes on vehicles) or inflicting Concessionaire Highways and Vehicular-APs on citizens.

Also, understand what ‘cultural relativism’ and ‘free will’ mean you dimknob! So who’s the dumbshit now? Let the readers decide! Pathos without Logos! And don’t mention the Fed or the Constitution, that would be Ethos without Logos! No logic, means no case.

Ali Davidson
18 December 2010 – 9:41 am

AgreetoDisagree,

You can’t apply Hudud la you dumbshit. It is the Federal Parliament that sanctions the level of punishments for the Syariah courts.

Read your fucking constitution you nimrod!

AgreeToDisagree
18 December 2010 – 2:44 am

@Ali Davidson

“Syariah law in Malaysia is archaic and primitive.”

True. But people who WANT HUDUD even, have a right to live by Hudud. Though imposing any law without consent is also wrong. Hudud is livable if you are very disciplined, but most Muslims can’t really do it. That is PAS’s weak point. If PAS makes Hudud applicable on a signatory basis, with all Muslims still under Syariah Law as well, PAS would be quite strong. You could even say that any PAS Malay is an honest and non-corrupt Malay who is a proper follower of Islam. They need to be apply Hudud in this manner or they will chase Malay voters away.

With Tok Guru’s condemnation of Bumiputraism as APARTHEID and ex-Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainal stating Bumiputra is akin to Zionism amonst others, PAS is quite popular in contemporary Malaysia among the minorities.

On the ethical scorecard, PMBK CEO Datuk Abdul Ariffahmi Abdul Rahman being asked to quit by Tok Guru to prevent conflict of interest sets a precedent probably in the whole of ASEAN, though here and there instances of extreme wealth have surfaced, though not as shocking as in BN.

Casual Analysis of Malaysian parties (International links wise) :

1) PAS is the safest where national security is concerned, other than ties with a mostly neutral German delegation, they look absolutely dedicated to Malaysian sovereignty.

2) DAP, as oligarchic and nepotistic as PAP is colluding with PAP on illegal technological fronts at USA’s behest, USA itself is beholden to the Zionist lobby.

3) PKR has Wolfowitz and others linked to Zionism as well though recent distancing of US from PKR’s ANwar make PKR slightly better for nationl sovereignty though NEPOTISM and OLIGARCHY in PKR however are so serious that MCLM and KITA have been set up to counter that in PKR.

4) The double faced Zionist-APCO link, damns Barisan no end.

Don’t laugh at Syariah or even Hudud Ali Davidson, it’s their choice if they really want it and have not been coerced. Self Determinism also applies in liefstyles like Hudud or those luddite minded Amish Mennonite communities in the USA. It’s a free world, don’t disparage that and even help others fight for their right to SELF DETERMINISM.

Ali Davidson
17 December 2010 – 10:44 pm

Just do away with Syariah law in Malaysia and you’ll have peace and harmony!

Syariah law in Malaysia is archaic and primitive.

I laugh each time I hear about Syariah law in Malaysia.

AgreeToDisagree
16 December 2010 – 3:15 am

That line is abit over the top and loses by itself, but you get the picture lol. But the arguement is won elsewhere in the repartee am very sure.

England is the flunky for going on a 10th Crusade against Saddam for double standards on 2nd Amendment Rights and causing near 500,000 deaths. A holocaust only upped by the Ameri-Indian Natives in USA and Canada and South Americas.

I will indulge your skewed perception on free will and your attempts to turn the public against people trying to ensure open opinion and free mindedness.

What do you mean so by default what you say is not relevant and holds not water? Flunked Logic 101?

Because we advocate self determinism, and children who are psychologically mature or who will come to less harm being married than being jailbait, does not mean we are paedophiles. I personally am more inclined to Borticelli than Loli phenotype though if @pointof view is into the latter, and everyone is consensual to marriage including parents, why should there be an issue?

Marriage and childbirth dignifies the tween or teen (especially if biologocally capable) and transitions her into a woman and MOTHER, not some mentally immatured ingenue long past her biological fertility, that that too is a choice that must remain open to the fairer sex.

Did you think the stork dropped off babies at the orphanage and that only aging women are entitled to adopt and raise children, who are sometimes forcibly placed there via child alienation?

Even male-male homosexual couples are permitted to adopt and raise children, (by the initiative of a certain alter ego I would hope?) why do you seek to forbid young couples in love who chose to become life partners?

During tribal times where all was untamed wilderness, when 2 people matured, they would probably leave the tribe to set up their own family and start ‘experimenting’ much earlier as well. Was there a law then? Then the male would take out his bow and arrow and . . . HUNT animals (OMG someone call PETA! Duh.). (No I wasn’t going to get explicit.)

Then there is the ageism issue, is difference in age any indicator of maturity or a reason to place a barrier to consensual marriage?

NEUTRAL SPACES for thought and living! Autonomy!

Go hurl your stones somewhere else and put those pitchforks and torches to better use, like against an abusive government which far too many have vested interest (perhaps you are one who profits from the proliferation of ‘charities’, orphanages, child services, or child alienation lawsuits? REPENT from doing Satan’s work by speaking for his Satanic social engineering structures and leave us independent citizens alone.)

All religious institutions running as businesses as well had better empty those coffers full of sequesterd funds that never benefit society, PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING, EVEN DYING OUT THERE.

It is YOU who is advised to seek medical help for your lack of logic and attempt at tarring anyone by calling them paedophiles. God knows they’ve made a sacred taboo of freedom to marry alongside religion without more people egging the ‘self serving charitable’ on.

Oneofthesedays
15 December 2010 – 10:28 pm

@pointofview @AgreeToDisagree

Looks like you flunked England too….

You are a couple of pedophile supporters so by default what you say is not relevant and holds no water.

My advice to you is to seek medical help for your sickness.

siew eng
15 December 2010 – 7:49 am

“She probably dont know or understand what she is getting herself into but I think she has made the right choice for her.”

This reminds me of Noor Kumalarasi who said she’d follow even the hadiths that are daif.

How well the teacher taught the student!

pointofview
14 December 2010 – 8:46 am

Oneofthesedays

You must be a joke… math? go figure the world… I didnt flunked my maths or language but making a simple point that if that teacher guy made his decision to marry the 14 year old girl then he should be ready to double up his duties. 14, 24 or 30 the house chores or what you call as maid duties should be shared to build a good marriage. Obviously, you dont have the capacity to understand that.

FarFarAway
14 December 2010 – 1:12 am

Generally, the law of the land (which would have been gazetted normally after discussion, debate and consultations) should be observed.

However, in Msia, there appears to be two sets of law and these need to be streamlined – after a fair discussion/debate/consultations, of course – where a legal minimum age for marriage should be set clearly.

AgreeToDisagree
14 December 2010 – 12:11 am

@Oneofthesedays

“If you can’t tell the diff between 14 and 24 you must have flunked math :)”

You don’t need to know math for wifely duties, to give birth or nurse children. The poorer husband though would require doubling up for cook’s or even maid’s duties though, but the same do not need math either. In fact math is not even needed for housebuilding (the traditional way) or farming crops or mining. Do we need math or even language for that matter? A club and a cave is more important than math.

Oneofthesedays
13 December 2010 – 9:12 pm

pointofview

if you can’t tell the diff between 14 and 24…you must have flunked math 🙂

pointofview
13 December 2010 – 11:43 am

By the way, the age gap between my husband and I is 9 years. We have a beautiful daughther. And I must say that, I’m a happily married woman and I’m enjoying every bits of my life to the fullest with my husband who once was my teacher.

pointofview
13 December 2010 – 11:32 am

I dont understand why this issue of a teacher marrying a student is so provoking to the society. I’m married to my teacher. The difference is that we waited until I finished my studies and got married at the age of 24. See, this girl has made her choice by marrying the teacher at a very young age. We are nobody to judge her or the teacher. She probably dont know or understand what she is getting herself into but I think she has made the right choice for her. I’m not condoning their actions but sometimes when you are ready to get married…just go ahead and get married. If not, the right person to come by will take sometime…or maybe not at all.

As for the parents, I dont think they want to escape from their parental resposibility. They just dont want to see their daugther being unmarried, have sex and get pregnant. So, by marrying her to that guy will ease their worries. Sometimes, when you have daughthers, the right measure should be taken to prevent wrong doings. Just think of it that we are reversing the time to early 40’s, 50’s or 60’s….where women get married at a very young age and build their happy families.

p/s: this is for the writer:

before you loyarburok about others, please do some research and gather your facts and point of views. Just dont hantam people. Anyway, you are single. What do you know about getting married or being married?

Charlie
13 December 2010 – 4:02 am

Speaking as someone who does not live in Malaysia and who has never lived in a majority Muslim community, and therefore probably more removed from the emotions behind the debate, I wasn’t surprised to hear that children of 14 are getting married in Muslim countries (after all, the prophet Mohammed pbuh himself married multiple wives (11) one of whom was betrothed to him at the age of 6 and the marriage was consummated at 10 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad’s_wive…. In this context, I was relieved that there was not too much of an age gap between the newly married couple (only 8 years) which is a pleasant contrast to the extremes we see in truly undeveloped places like Afghanistan: See this picture of a 40 year old man married to an 11 year old girl that won Unicef Photo of the year http://www.metro.co.uk/news/80298-under-age-marri….

That said, I (and I expect many others in the West) do perceive marriage at such a young age to be a practice of countries less progressive than Malaysia, and I was surprised that there is this “loophole” in Malaysian law that allows the marriageable age of 16 to be broken if sanctioned by a Shariah court. I think it is scary and undesirable that such a court could sanction marriage to girls much younger than 14 if it wanted to. I think there should be a lower age limit on this power. What that age limit should be should be a topic of debate for the Muslim community in Malaysia.

Looking at marriageable ages around the world, the trend is to raise them not to lower them. The trend is also to stop the practice of children getting married. In 2008 Egypt raised the marriageable age from 16 to 18 and also outlawed female circumcision (a barbaric practice which I believe many of my Muslim brothers and sisters in certain countries have tolerated for too long). Even Saudi Arabia and Yemen (among the most prolific for child marriages) are also looking to introduce a minimum marriageable age. Such action is largely in response to outcries at what their indigenous populations saw as morally reprehensible behaviour in a marriage context (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nujood_Ali).

So, I think that is good news for the world. I am pleased that Malaysia is not having more extreme stories of forced marriages with larger age gaps coming out and I am also pleased that there is a willingness to debate these issues openly. No country is perfect, but through debate, willingness to change and pursuit of principles of fairness we stand a good chance of making our countries better and more harmonious places to live.

AgreeToDisagree
12 December 2010 – 3:14 am

What have you seen at 14? Why can’t you wait?

Well after picking the husband of choice or being picked by a successful suitor, or having an meticulously and astrologically soundly calculated arranged marriage (with someone not too noxious to oneself), the now matured woman (maybe in her late 30s onwards), may still choose to ‘see the world’ after raising her children to adulthood.

Who says a lfestyle has to be linear or binary? Try thinking out of the box, and while saying it is justified by Islam is the lazy way out, I think the Prophet would concur with my entirely secular and logic based views on the matter.

It IS okay for minors to get married. But only after many considerations are to be factored in. Best of luck, and don’t wait too long for ‘true love’, by biological factors, some things are best enjoyed and more viable while young!

Noreen
12 December 2010 – 1:02 am

Hi All,

Thank you all for your comments again. I am happy that my article has generated views both from those who are okay with underage marriages and those who are against it. And so, thank you for your concerns Crystal. I am touched.:-)

Who would have thought that there are people who are okay with underage marriages? Seriously. Again, seriously?!!

I feel compelled to comment again because I do not appreciate being called as someone who back-out from a war and having accused as someone with a perverted, corrupted mind who failed to understand the attributes and teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

The reference to stoneage is a metaphor to a time different from ours and to minds that somehow have not caught up with the 21st century. It wasn’t supposed to be read literally as a prehistoric period where man made tools from stones.

True, I agree that Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to Aishah is an exceptional case but is the teacher like Prophet Muhammad and is the kid like Aishah? Abu Bakar As-Siddiq blessed the marriage between Aishah and Prophet Muhammad because of:

(a) to reinforce friendly relations between him and the Prophet;

(b) to educate and train Aisha so she may served the purposes of Islam; and

(c) to teach her to utilise her capabilities for the sake of Islam.

If (note-IF) the parents’ intentions for approving the marriage were:

(a) to escape from their responsibility as parents; and

(b) to legalise sex between a minor and an adult.

Then, I feel sorry for the girl.Marriage is no child’s play and this was why the last paragraph of my article above was styled in the manner of the last dialogue in the movie Trainspotting. It is to evoke images of choices,empowerment, independence and there is more to life than getting married. See and experience the world first, then decide. What have you seen at 14? Why can’t you wait? True love waits.

To say it is okay for minors to get married because the Prophet did it to me is the same as saying it is okay for parents to kill their kid as a sacrifice to Allah. The same way as Ibrahim almost killed Ismail before being rewarded for his loyalty and faith with a big sheep sent down from the heaven to be slaughtered instead of Ismail. Sacrifice in this modern age has taken into a more in depth meaning if not metaphoric and is more than slaughtering the sacrificial sheep.

Farha’s suggestions to me is a happy compromise and while I respect her views, I still stand with what I have written. To me there is no compromise in underage marriages. It should be banned altogether.

As for the teacher and his newly married child-bride, good luck.I wish you all the best and may you have a blissful marriage.

Have a good weekend everyone.

zenonidenoni
11 December 2010 – 7:33 am

The Prophet Muhammad SAW is a mercy sent by Allah to mankind. His acts and his words were never driven by lust, his wisdom came from Allah through the the teaching of the Angel Jibrail. It is in your perverted mind that think their marriage was by lust, then why not the prophet married 10 young girls, why did he married only one while he can have them all, nobody was going to question the prophet back then. But he did marry only one girl and not making her as his daughter because a stepdaughter in Islam is not allowed to access much of his private life, which in fact, very important to us Muslims to learn about his way of life. The hardness of his life not only felt by him, but also his daughter Fatimah and all of his nine wives. He acted not upon his desire nor lust, but his actions were always guided by Allah. And people would slander him if he took Aisyah r.a. as a stepdaughter. You guys had not read nor study the life of the prophet or other prophets, so you will not have any idea other than what in store of your perverted, corrupted mind.

zenonidenoni
11 December 2010 – 7:17 am

I’m out of this argument. No point arguing anymore. I had made my stand, deliver my message that we should not intervene with the marriage, for fear it may cause them to separate. We should be supportive, not destructive, they are already married with the consent of their parents.

Who are we to decide that playing and going on school trips are good for her. We should grab whatever opportunity to do good deeds and shall not delay it for tomorrow for fear that the chance might go off. We don’t even know what is going to happen the next second, we can only assume. So, please, janganlah bersangka buruk dengan orang lain. Goodbye.

Crystal
11 December 2010 – 5:41 am

Dear Noreen,

Do not be disheartened by some of the comments by your readers. The way most Malaysians reacted to this news, we all know how the majority feels about this. And I very much agree with U-En Eng. This is not about the girl’s rights to get married. The questions really is about whether she is mature enough. I know some 14-year olds who are very mature, but why can’t it wait? If you are so confident about your love, why not wait?

And so many of you are not parents. Neither am I. But I shudder to think that there may be a teacher in my nieces schools who may be flirting and having a relationship with them! Parents are supposed to protect and prevent their children from making mistakes. How can a 14 year old really know what marriage really is and what she has committed herself into? What is the point of “building a family life early so by the age of 40, their children can help and support and build even bigger family.” Why not 20+??

And so many talk about the ‘legal’ aspect of marriage. Sex with a minor is still SEX WITH A MINOR, married or otherwise! MARRIAGE DOES NOT MAKE A KID OLDER! Marriage is not just a “holy union of two souls with god as witness”. It’s a lot of work, work that 14 year olds may not be capable of. Work that is not necessary for a 14 year old. She should be playing and going on school trips and having fun with her friends. How can you say she chose it when she may not even know what the hell she is talking about?

U-En Ng
11 December 2010 – 4:46 am

Do we trust a 14-year-old (or any girl on the basis of her first period, regardless of age) to drive a car? Buy a house? Work in a factory? Get a credit card?

If there is an element of prejudgement in preventing underaged marriage (in that it deprives an individual, regardless of her age, of choice), aren’t we also bound at least to consider that an individual’s capacity for deciding *ought* to be tested by *sufficient maturity*?

farha
10 December 2010 – 11:18 pm

There are pros and cons to marrying at such a young age. In those days (yes, i HAVE to make that comparison), girls marry young but usually because their families have arranged for it…rarely does the girl marry out of their own volition.

Today, if the 14-year-old girl (who recenly is in the press) marry because she want to, to the guy who is right (at that time), feels she’s capable, why not? She have the right to get married…this i don’t deny. However, she also have the right to an education that supports teenage mums.

I think, then, there has to be some kind of guidelines to i)ensure they remain educated; or in worse case scenario, ii)be able to re-join school if she don’t want to attend school for the time being (for whatever reason)

(e.g – how many times can these young mums defer PMR/SPM if they take maternity leave? is there ‘compassionate leave’ for them if they need to attend to sick babies?)

the pervert teacher should be arrested for rape and not be allowed near children unsupervised ever again.-end quote-

wah,so nice of you to accuse someone who you don’t even know. Do you understand that pedophile is a person who had sex (unmarried of course) with a young person. Between a legal husband and wife, you have no jurisdiction for that. And I always think it is nothing wrong to marry early, they are not rob from their childhood, they are building their family life early so by the age of 40, their children can help and support and build even bigger family.

By the way, my gf is a nice beautiful and charming 24-year old lady whom I’m going to marry her if Allah permit when I have enough money.

p/s: A writer should write responsibly.

AgreeToDisagree
10 December 2010 – 6:04 pm

hi @L,

1) ” and as Marina Mahathir had said in her column in The Star, marrying a teenager just for the sake of preventing “social ills” such as pre-marital sex can actually lead to bigger social ills like abuse, lack of education for the female bride therefore lack of her ability to fend for herself and thus have to be entirely dependent on her husband to decide her life for her as per his will…etc.

Not in every case. And with a strong and watchful (DO NOT BE ‘offensively watchful’ – try malicious compliance, for respect for her husband is critical to their marital bliss – warning all so-called feminists to check those attitudes in advance, especially older jealous jilted/unmarried ones) community setting I mention, ‘fending’ will be very unlikely.

As for ‘conveniently saintly’ Marin ‘Evil’ Mahathiru who looks potentially to angle herself via MCLM as Malaysia’s First Female PM, and the spectre of her becoming Malaysia’s First Female PM in true DYNASTY/OLIGARCHY form after her father dr.Evil, is just too horrible to mention. dr.Evil would never face a trial, and the ‘pity my father’ and ‘since I am also PM’ ploy will be all too obvious by then. She would likely to protect her father, whitewash Ops Lallang, or the Vehicular AP system or the APARTHEID or billions worth of ILLEGAL shipping bailouts, closed tenders, free contracts, unpaid and ignored bills and illegal movements of funds for Marina’s brothers Mirzan and Mokhzani.

By vested interests Mirzan is a director of at least eight companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. His private company, Peringkat Prestasi, a large stake in Lion Corp. His Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd, a listed haulage and logistics company, controls almost half of Malaysia’s road freight market. Imagine the number of freely given contracts this guy got!

Mokhazani, ex-UMNO Treasurer, is worth well over a billion, through his vehicle Kenchana Petroleum and much of the undistributed NEP wealth through a network of subsidiaries and proxies. Imagine the number of close tenders this guy got!

Careful of MCLM simply by the association of committee post bearer Marina to her brothers and by extension dr.Evil Mahathir! Blood is thicker than water and in the nepotistic and oligarchic world of blood relations, ALL the Rakyat are but water, so NEVER vote for those who by association attempt to protect those who have harmed Malaysia so much over the past 22 years. I’d drop MCLM for fear that friendships between Haris/RPK and Marina would be a protective last pitch weapon coordinated by the evil Mahathir in the background somehow. To play it safe, I’d advise all voters or current MCLM supporters to look for other options than MCLM or set up as private candidates instead. A 3rd Force is indeed needed but MCLM by blood association to dr.Evil, has too many holes for any cautious voter’s liking.

Citizens, run as private candidates instead if you want a 3rd Force so badly.

2) those who advocate this practice are supporters of a repressive patriarchal system who believe a woman’s purpose in life is to be a good wife and serve the man, who then will have all the rights to determine her life for her. Women are humans too, in case you have not noticed. Women have the right to choose…yes…some may choose marriage. but if at a young age, how sure are we that that choice is a choice made by an uninfluenced mind with a clear and rational idea of what she is committing herself towards.

Not necessarily again. Do you know what joy a child-like mind who has indulged and lived out whimsical decisions can accrue in the years to come? She will always say, I always had my way. And that is part of the magic of having a young bride that you may never know because of your distrust or lack of access of the strong supportive community as I mention.

Such settings are few but should be encouraged, and by this way of upbringing, the next generation of adults would be equally joyful and privileged, to influence society to a happier and freer world. I partook of a different form, (not a child bride) and here I am sharing what I have ‘gained’, though throughout there was much anger at the freedom I always felt and still wish to share.

The gain I mention above is incalculable as opposed to the devastating social engineering occurring this day. Though with caveats as in my earlier comment. Think deeper and in the right setting and conditions, the above culture is a wonder and luxury to behold that while out of reach to most today, should really be extended to all peoples of the world in time to come.

AgreeToDisagree
10 December 2010 – 5:46 pm

hi Noreen :

You said ” My question is why not? Writers write, readers decide.”

True but entirely neglecting the finer point I will now discuss below.

But too many people don’t really know their own mind or have had time to develop the intelligence or linguistic skills to make their own opinions or even develop their personality *shock* – schooling is something I feel should begin AFTER age 35 when a stable core personality has developed.

That is also why the AGEISM issue in uniformed or enforcement recruiting – a very vicious agenda that strips a young individual of the opportunity to develop themselves. Do you think a matured soldier who has lived as a civilian would torture prisoners as in Abu Gharaib? Go to war when the reasons are wrong? Hardly, so the young and vulnerable are being targeted and as an matured person (which I assume you are, note I used the word mature, because old age does not make for maturity) it is a responsibility for the conscientious to prevent such ‘collateral damage’ (in afflicting self determinism or formation of opinion) which I see many writers in many online mags or blogs neglecting to address entirely.

So when you write, you could end up inadvertently subsuming any opinions a reader might have had or that were in formation! Especially the less intelligent ones or those from lower socio-political classes who have been inculpated with ‘approval seeking’ natures.

Perhaps forums should have a rating system or warning (by the Information Ministry – which obviously is a propaganda machine with no sense of right or wrong, save for the political forces currently at sway) on the above matters to better prepare the readers for strong opinions that effectively end up as an imposition of ‘social engeineering’ without ‘informed consent’.

For added responsibility and respect for the free will of others to avoid this problem, such safeguards and considerations must always be met and never trivilised or neglected unless we have an ‘agenda’.

Now I do not know you well enough to judge that you have been tainted by communication with such people but if you are, please drop those guys, even if they pay you a salary to spin, and begin writing CONSCIENTIOUSLY and in a NEUTRAL manner.

As we communicate, more problems are identified and better ways of communication and social development are discovered. I think there are many who would find this exchange on the issue itself and the ‘why not’ you have brought up useful. Also very appreciative on the replies! Some article writers only want to pontificate and never engage or discuss as if theirs was the gospel tructh, others twist your comments via selective moderation, I really appreciate this and our so-called ‘aduns’ should learn to communicate with the Rakyat who voted them in after all.

Nice chatting!

KoE
10 December 2010 – 4:58 pm

I’m surprise that the writer failed to understand that the teachings and the attributes of Prophet Muhammad PBUH are universal and stand correct across the time

Oneofthesedays
10 December 2010 – 4:53 pm

@zenonidenoni

when are you marrying your 14 year-old?

pedophile defender = pedophile

so nothing you have said has any credibility.

the pervert teacher should be arrested for rape and not be allowed near children unsupervised ever again.

L
10 December 2010 – 1:48 pm

i enjoy reading your article. it is refreshing to see how some people in the community have a strong opinion against such a practice.

just because marriage has legalized sex with a minor, it doesn’t mean that it is not paedophilia. that is an extreme view, i am aware of that. but such a view cannot be dismissed altogether.

and as Marina Mahathir had said in her column in The Star, marrying a teenager just for the sake of preventing “social ills” such as pre-marital sex can actually lead to bigger social ills like abuse, lack of education for the female bride therefore lack of her ability to fend for herself and thus have to be entirely dependent on her husband to decide her life for her as per his will…etc.

those who advocate this practice are supporters of a repressive patriarchal system who believe a woman’s purpose in life is to be a good wife and serve the man, who then will have all the rights to determine her life for her. Women are humans too, in case you have not noticed. Women have the right to choose…yes…some may choose marriage. but if at a young age, how sure are we that that choice is a choice made by an uninfluenced mind with a clear and rational idea of what she is committing herself towards. some laws need to be enacted to protect people from their closest people, their love interests, families and even from themselves, in order to adequately protect their rights as a human, deserving of every freedom a human is entitled to.

zenonidenoni
10 December 2010 – 9:54 am

You can’t just declare a war and then back off..

But hey, no need to raise the alarm, I come in peace. And I did not say you insult the Prophet SAW. Only that I read that you talked about stone age in one paragraph, and the next paragraph you continue with a doubt about the Prophet decision if he was here. There is a link of ideas going on.. which I understood you wanted to say that the Prophet lived in the stone age…something like that.

And hey again, I think we should say to the girl to learn to be a good wife, and we should say to the husband, be gentle to your wife and we should say to their families we support you although we differ in our actions and decisions because we know this is not wrong and it has nothing to do with public opinion because this is their private life. Or just say something good and not being “buruk sangka” to other people.

Noreen
10 December 2010 – 7:38 am

Hi All,

Thank you for all your comments. It feels great that this article has evoked many thoughts and opinions. You have made me more inspired because the worst thing about writing is not having any readers at all.

Anyway: –

Dear Zedoninonini,

I am sorry to disappoint you but I am not taking up your challenge. Firstly because I am fully aware of my credibility and credentials when I wrote this. I do not have to prove this to anyone, certainly not to you. Secondly, I do not how you read the article, I did not insult Prophet Mohammad. Thank you for your comments.

Dear Agree to Disagree,

I see your points and if I had not formed any opinion on the issue of underage marriages,I might actually agree with all that you have just said. One point though, when you said “writers should not make opinions on any lifestyle as if it were the only way to live”. My question is why not? Writers write, readers decide.

zenonidenoni
10 December 2010 – 5:45 am

Salam, I am here to defend the Prophet Muhammad SAW although he does not need anyone to defend himself, but I’m doing it because I love him. Therefore O Writer of the Post, I have seven questions to challenge your credibility to have your opinion made public and yet accepted upon this gray issue. What you had wrote will surely applauded by disbelievers who always looking not by the wisdom of the Deen of Haq. Herewith are my questions:

1. Regardless of your marital status, what will you consider a marriage is, a gift from Allah, natural selection or a curse?

2. Have you studied intensively the story of the Prophet Muhammad SAW that you come to a conclusion that he will not get married to Aisyah r.a. if they live in this modern age?

3. You said, “I have forgotten that times may have changed but some minds are still trapped in the Stone Age.” Well, do you believe that there was a period in time called the Stone Age? What do you think when I say that there were the Age of the Prophets and the Age of the Kings and the bones and potteries that were found in the caves that are claimed to be from the Stone Age were just from people who somehow got disconnected from the ancient civilizations and beside that, there will always be foolish people all around these ages to believe that there was a Stone Age?

4. Do you know the teacher, the girl and their parents that you can just ignorantly depict them as the third world people? By the way, what world are you in? The dark matter world?

5. Can I blame you and other people that are with the same tune as your opinion in this matter if the marriage mentioned above fail? Why? Maybe because you are not being supportive to them and that make them in a state of under public pressure and scrutiny.

6. Don’t you agree that by marrying early enable the girl to learn and master the art of being a good and pious wife earlier than you do?

7. Why do you think the Prophet married Aisyah r.a. at her tender age?

P/s: Somebody posted this thread on a forum I used to follow (Darksiderg.com, under the column Banana Republic)

QUOTE

i just dont think its right to follow the preachings of someone who has sex with nine year old girls or takes his sons wife for his self because god told him to after he seen her naked.

(2) the education and work route which most middle class types are forced to because they have no choice.

But nobody should have any lifestyle forced upon them or promoted as the only lifestyle as well. If future hubby is too poor to hire a maid (no more cleaning), a cook (no preperation of breakfast or meals) or a child minder (no more looking after of kids) or even a wet nurse (no more feeding, though most mothers probably would), then look at your family stature and decide if he is suitable for you. The above ‘chores’ should not be presented as a set of DEMANDS of marriage but are as optional as the young brides’ preference. Some might ENJOY the tasks and even refuse to let the hired help do the work. It’s not unknown and the sheer domesticity of ‘chores’ is the basis of happy marriages, depending on the personality of those being considered!

Affairs of the heart can always be fulfilled at any age, once biologically capable and with INFORMED CONSENT and knowledge of parents and community. Attachment to a husband is something that varies greatly between women, so early marriage is just another option and adds diversity to viable lifestyles that deserves the support of society as well.

Meanwhile the government could have a preparatory syllabus drawn up for young brides, and make sure the local Wanita branch of whatever party locally, is always watching over and constantly in communication with any young wives to make sure no abuses occur. This should make sure that all husbands (stop with the AGEISM which is no better than RACISM, old age is the breakdown of a body nothing else) treats young wives well and instills a sense of responsibility as well.

Writers should not make opinions on any lifestyle as if it were the only way to live. In truth, some girls would be very happy and fulfilled as a mother early in life, while others would not. So a study of the personality of the would-be bride should be done by parents on both sides and NEUTRAL matured people/professionals who do not advocate either life style as gospel truth the way this writer does.

Light demogoguery by Ms Ariff? She has chosen a path that she prefers or was swept into. The least the writer can do is to let others choose their own way of living without any pushing in any direction. That is the nature of free will and self determinism. Let all choose who to love, and when to marry, preferably after the above social checks and balances and opinion feedbacks have been made.

Steven
10 December 2010 – 12:16 am

Would statutory rape for minor below 16 years apply if the husband has sex with his so call wife.

Serious Shepherd
10 December 2010 – 12:09 am

Set of law A says:

-Killing foetuses is legal

-Adultery is legal if you and your partner are above 18 years old

-If one of the partners is under 18 then it is a statutory rape, even it is done through marriage

-If both are under 18 and commit adultery, then has to come out with something like Romeo and Juliet laws (let’s say both are 16)

If a community already adopts set of law B then there is no need for set of law A to be imposed on them. It’s like doing moral policing to a certain community who later complains on ‘imposing their moral values on others’.

anak_perelih
9 December 2010 – 6:01 pm

many 14 years old girls nowadays are having sex with their boyfriends… not a surprise…

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not meaning to be critical but try this lullaby :

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird. (What does a baby need a mockingbird for? How about mixing with fellow babies at a crech?)And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring. (Guess this is not ‘Career Woman’ Noreen’s bag? And yes thats really too early . . . )
etc. ends with :

And if that horse and cart fall down, Well you’ll still be the sweetest baby in town. (Horse and cart? Try singing about teats, cribs and bibs first ‘Mama’. ‘Mama’ in this song increasingly feels like a ‘Replicant’ from ‘Bladerunner’ (Ridley Scott 1982) not knowing or confounded by the difference between Tortoises and Turtles . . .

So guess what, the rest of the song here continues ‘gifting’ things that aren’t very useful to a baby or a child and ends with . . . still be the sweetest baby in town . . . OMG the ‘Psycho’ scenario! The whole song appears to be geared towards not wanting baby to grow up or leave (horse and cart fall down . . . )?

Guess mothers even of that day were THAT clingy and selfish or didn’t know what a child liked. A mockingbird?!? Really? Does that come in a cage? How about something more cheerful and boisterous like so many songbirds in the wild which are free? And WHY must that dog be pre-named ‘Rover’? Baby or child might want to name their dog themselves, who knows baby or child prefers cats or no pets at all?

Good intentions without consultation of the receipient or consideration of the recipient’s preferences make for meaningless pontificative communication . . . Sigh, this lullaby is depressing and smothering – promise rewards for being quiet when QUESTIONING and DEBATING – AMENDING/APPENDING (to) FLAWED CONSTITUTIONS and BAD LAWS! So Noreen, how could anyone try to ‘imprint’ an article upon the readers like this much like the above lullaby does – imagine the negative subliminal effects such ‘lullabies’ might have on the subconscious! Freedom of choice is best and THAT covers APOSTASY and choice of sexuality, something Malaysia does not have. Noreen, taking away choice to get married young is no different than being forced to marry, and in this day and age, people love to stand out, no surprise that when everyone is studying those individualists who want to stand out will purposely get married and become mothers! You’re raining on an individualist Noreen, even as you yourself have become ‘Pro-Establishment’ (. . . probably, though perhaps I am too hopeful . . . ) without knowing so.

How about running for election on the below 3 items as an independent Noreen?

distribute unused land to the homeless (socialism but would you rather have 1% plutocrats with an angry 99% homeless, debt ridden, becoming gangs of thieves/robbers, or NGO ralliers running around, or distribute and aloow them to slowly build their homes into castles, contentedly smoking weed or poppy sap, chewing coca they grew in their own backyard for free and eating food they grew themselves?). Malaysia is a land of plenty, we do not need taxes, illegal immigrants being given free citizenships out of sheer racism or religiosity, and fees every step of the way right down to the apartheid and extreme religion. This is just step 1.

When the above all happens, then will new things appear for humanity – at least in Malaysia. If we can’t even do the above 3 for a start much less what I just listed, at least don’t try to ‘Lowest Common Denominatorise’ or ‘Streamline into Conformity’ individuals that have the strength to go against the mainstream.

An 18-year-old girl has been arrested on child pornography charges for selling nude pictures of herself online.

The girl, an 18-year-old unemployed resident of Saitama, was arrested on charges of selling child pornography after she sold nude pictures of herself to men online using an Internet bulletin board.

Reportedly, from December of 2009 to April of 2010 she took a number of pictures of herself naked with her cellphone, in one case selling 33 to a pair of patrons for ¥12,000.

She identified customer bank accounts, allowing police to identify 147 customers who paid her a total of ¥1,070,000 ($12,000). It is not clear whether police will be pursuing charges against them.

She admits the charges, saying she used the money to pay her rent and food bills as she had left home.

18-year-olds, though still technically minors under Japanese law, are perfectly legal to portray pornographically in Japan – although unconfirmed, observers think the most likely explanation for her arrest is that some of the photographs were of her when she was still 17, though naturally this hardly constitutes “child pornography” in the eyes of most.

The arrest has proven contentious amongst Japanese – some have denounced it as a typical abuse of a bad law in order to terrorise minors into chastity, whilst others express disgust at police and mass media which insist on calling an 18-year-old a “shoujo” instead of a young woman. None can identify a victim involved in the crime.

Ironically, she would not have faced any charges had she just had sex with the men for money, or sold them her pantsu, even if she was a minor at the time – Japanese police never take legal action against “child” prostitutes, except apparently when they happen to take pictures of themselves.

Even more ironically, in most parts of Japan a schoolgirl can be procured for much less than the patrons mentioned paid for a few dirty snaps…

Innocent-Guilty Questionaire Factors (Yes/No questions determine what charges can be brought on. treat each question as a Juror).

*Abstract Factors
1) Who initiated the first move (threw the first punch)? Was this ‘serial’ / ‘habitual’ in nature or due to ‘natural feelings of ‘love’?
2) Was act Consensual-Non-Coercive / Bribe-Pressure Induced (Did victim feel taken advantage of? Perpetrator’s view of advantage taking form could be created.)
3) Was the victim psychologically mature and intellectually capable of understanding relationships, has studied the subject sufficiently to make informed decisions? Psychological maturity could be tested to determine age for right to consent regardless of age.
4) Cultural norm/practice justification?

In this Sankaku example, factors 1, 2, 3 can be discounted. Factor 4 is debatable to a 50/50 degree.

*Material Factors
1) Onset of puberty another determining factor (Increases right based on uncontrollable chemical/mating instinct?)
2) Physical maturity another determining factor (Increases right based on ‘can carry to term with no significant risk to victim’ as in life threatening Caesarians being required as opposed to having capacity for natural birth, regardless of pregnancy or non-pregnancy after the act)
3) Is the victim a financial dependent? (Debatable : Financial dependent allowed/disallowed regardless of maturity AND if underage OR pre-pubescent may not be allowed to consent regardless of psychological maturity? Further – Can the law demand that Parental consent is required without trampling on self determinism and creating uproar among religious demographic? Is fiscal and statuary age based control of right of sexual association unconstitutional? (Leads to child labour laws AND psychological maturity issues / Application to pornograpy and media?)

In this Sankaku example, all 3 Factors can be discounted.

Verdict : 0.5 out of 7. Not guilty. Free her now with reparations pls., her ‘legal system unaffirmed’ human rights are being trampled on.

ARTICLE 3

NOW, even 6-year-old girls say they want to be ‘SEXY’ – Friday, 20 July 2012 18:22

Today in bleeeeeeeeuuuuuurrrrrrrrrgh, a new study in the journal Sex Roles suggests that girls as young as six years old are concerned with appearing “sexy.” As in, sexually attractive. To other people. With their bodies. In public. At the risk of getting all preachy about “the children,” I’d like to invite you all to join me in a rousing chorus of, “Holy shit!!! The chiiiiildreeeeeeen!!!”

Now, obviously “sexiness” doesn’t really mean anything to little kids, as much as they think they understand it. If my collection of wide-leg pants, head-bandannas, maroon clogs, and polyester potato sacks is any indication, I definitely didn’t get a handle on sexiness until I was like…24. At least. 25, maybe. Do I even know now? Whatever. I didn’t know what it was or how to do it, but I knew that I wanted it—because, in the grand scheme of things, the girls that had “it” were the girls that got what they wanted. Sexiness is the source of our power, society says. It’s what makes you a girl. So only, like, a baby snail in a coma would be naive enough to imagine that that attitude wouldn’t trickle down to the children. Kids are sponges. Which means that now kids are sexy sponges. Bleurgh.

Researchers presented 6- to 9-year-old girls with a series of paired paper dolls: one doll in a “sexy” outfit and the other in a trendy but full-coverage outfit.

Using a different set of dolls for each question, the researchers then asked each girl to choose the doll that: looked like herself, looked how she wanted to look, was the popular girl in school, she wanted to play with.

Across-the-board, girls chose the “sexy” doll most often. The results were significant in two categories: 68 percent of the girls said the doll looked how she wanted to look, and 72 percent said she was more popular than the non-sexy doll.

Girls who played sports chose the non-sexualized doll more often. Girls who both watched a lot of TV and had mothers with “self-objectifying tendencies” were more likely to choose the sexy doll. But on the flipside, girls who watched a lot of TV but received “maternal instruction during media viewing” (i.e. smart, attentive moms who made sure to call bullshit on bullshit) were somewhat more protected from self-sexualization. Media-consuming girls with religious mothers were similarly non-sexualized. However, perhaps most interestingly:

Girls who didn’t consume a lot of media but who had religious mothers were much more likely to say they wanted to look like the sexy doll. “This pattern of results may reflect a case of ‘forbidden fruit’ or reactance, whereby young girls who are overprotected from the perceived ills of media by highly religious parents … begin to idealize the forbidden due to their underexposure,” the authors wrote…”low media consumption is not a silver bullet” against early self-sexualization in girls.

And that gets directly to the heart of my feelings about this whole creep-show. The knee-jerk response is to blame Katy Perry, and Sydney Bristow, and Bratz dolls, and brokeback lady heroes. There’s no comic book lady-lawyer with a bionic briefcase whose superpower is competence and whose costume is a sensible pantsuit. That doesn’t exist. And that particular cultural flaw certainly doesn’t help little girls prioritize brains over butts. But it’s still just an intermediate symptom, not the cause.

Here’s the cause: Exactly one jillion years ago (historical accuracy courtesy of Lindy West, Lady Anthropologist), some genius decided that the human body was shameful. Especially the female human body. And the disgusting, shameful human body needed to be cloaked at all times, or else DOOM. Certain religious people (see above) are especially excited about this idea. Except simultaneously, some other genius decided that the female body is a precious, possessable commodity that can be sold and traded and hoarded like big floppy flesh-bucks. So that creates this crazy taboo where everyone is clamoring to see naked female bodies all the time, but they feel weird and guilty about it, which makes them mad at females who show their bodies too much, but also makes everyone worship females who show their bodies just enough (but also kind of hate them at the same time). And then women hate other women with “better” bodies, and little kids get the message that they’d better have the “right” kind of body and display it in the “right” way, or they’re screwed. It’s waaaaay more complicated than that, of course, but my point is that our entire relationship with human bodies is FUCKED.

There’s nothing objectively shameful about a body, which means there’s nothing objectively shameful about those outfits on the “sexy” paper dolls. (You never hear some badger mom complaining to Mole-ry Povich that her litter “dresses too sexy,” because that is just some weird shit that humans made up.) A “slutty” outfit is nothing but a different configuration of fabric. But because of the aforementioned taboo, and the commodification of the female body, and the way that certain religious folks combine those two things in the most fucked up and oppressive way possible, bodies mean everything. And 6-year-old girls internalize that and wind up “wanting” things that they don’t even understand: things that (supposedly) telegraph sexual desirability, things that (they think) will bolster their tiny ailing self-esteems. Things like, if this study is any indication, some shitty pleather bustier from the bargain bin at Lover’s Package.

And then we blame…pleather? Nope, sorry, this is our mess. You can froth about Barbies and shame Katy Perry all you want, religious mothers, but remember: you made Katy Perry.

-=jezebel.com

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Narrow minded display. That article is only true of a a certain demographic though the article itself creates bias in the readers who are not particularly familiar with or generally applying of critical thought, the voices mentioned above may be loud or even a majority but why should anyone care? There is also the set that wants to be in diapers and be breast fed by their mothers up to their tweens or worse, until ‘Psycho’ (1960 Alfred Hitchcock) scenarios occur but even that is their right though the murder was illegal and undesirable ( unless that was somehow subconsciously desired by Norman’s old mother). Other mothers sleep around, give birth and do not care about who does the adoption. Yet others collect as many orphans as they can to appear ‘cool’ and ‘kind’ while dripping evil on all other counts. This kids and sexiness thing is probably another fringe group who have parents that allow or foster or hacve been involved (gasp!) in this. Must be aware that generations ago, showing an ankle or even the neck was ‘sexy’. So who made the writer Ayatollah? People INCLUDING children will choose their preferences and regret the same or not later. Thats what being an individual is all about not biological age, though consent and free will of the child must be considered (i.e the child may want to continue family behaviour even if negative or may opt out the key issue is if the child has be taught to decide if said child wants to or not of said child’s free will).

The writer sounds really old and narrow minded here. There will always be burkha wearers even as there will be nudists. Or psychedelic organics smokers and those who avoid the same people and substances like plague. MINORITY OF ONE is a human right. It’s just that freedom of expression now FOR CHILDREN is much stronger than ever. Humanity is evolving even as fashionably outdated type memes will most certainly endure. Why rain on some kid’s ‘sexiness parade’? When people attempt to normalise anything or when everyone is a clone THEN that is more fightening. By sheer value in diversity, anyone should feel happy this is being expressed, though there should also be a open ended manual for children to study and be tested from, and discussion on what could or could not happen rather than NON-CONSENSUAL imprinting by parents, religions or society in a manner that subsumes a child’s free will which is what the 1st World and modern society or the ‘Minority of One’ concept (which is almost never practiced in law) is all about rather than the child’s own natural inclinations which must also be differentiated from stronger minds manipulating from the background in a form of ‘psychic dictatorship or ]’psychic subversion’ much like cults of personality that can demand all followers suicide and the group actually does that.

I.e. for a further example of free will – sex predators, which again some kids could actually want to ‘tame’ (or who knows HEAL with . . . , let your imagination run wild but this response at least comes from a Borticelli bod type lover . . . ), YES the fearlessness of the young is something that could change a sex predator brought up in older, less free willed times, the interactions are boundless – (and here we have ‘@jezebel’, yeah right – whats so ‘jezebel’ about snarking at kids wanting to be sexy? There will be some happy endings, some weird situations not too healthy, some though less – happy and even plain abusive where we must really step in but hardly on the above ‘want to be sexy’ example) – but in the history of mankind, probably most instances were not reported because internet media was not present. Stop nitpicking or being a control freak unless a particularly unpleasant incident happens. A below 10 kid loses their virginity. So? In some cases the kid themself might not even care and grow up into a career woman or get married as a mother without the psychosis that plagues those who come from strict prison-like chastity belt wearing convents or where parents beat children with belts and canes, or where even a slap or vicious scoldings could turn a child into some kind of hateful boss that enjoys bullying subordinates, or that loves to sabotage society by writing bad laws or even refusing to amend bad laws!

The frequency of ‘strange’ events like ‘kids wanting to be sexy’ is not increasing, more likely, we are just aware of the events because of new media and that society has chosen to live and let live rather than scream and spaz out in terror becuse these are not the values they are used to. Much like Burkha wearers and women forbidden to drive. They have a new voice and dare to express. So shaddup @jezebel, this dangerous potentially retaliatory, demogogue rousing musing bores the hell out of everyone. Ask around I’m very sure there are some who regret what not, but also some who would do eveything all over again, the point was to live for the moment, and the physical shell of the moment is but a reflection of commitment to reality beyond the physical, which is why some these youth appear so feckless – there is nothing left out there except values and religions that threaten to leave one’s souls even emptier, little wonder they run straight into to subculture or even BDSM lot!

So yes if somehow things work out in some strange way, we the responsible adults (who do not demogogue) MUST let them as private individuals do what they want. Some may even choose suicide victim or abuser, but the soul knows when and why, and we cannot presume to act on or manipulate on any other soul’s behalf as if we had none of our own and wanted to interfere in any other’s spiritual evolution. This is not pleasant or safe to say, BUT – if a victim gettting raped or a rapist getting away is part of that in some twisted manner, so that some sick pedophile gets a soul of their own (a soul for a rape event is WELL WORTH, and the attacker could go on to great things if we do not destroy them and they humannise fast enough to empathise with the victim etc..) or prevents the next Anti-Pope from being born, who knows what we could be causing if we prevented or pre-empted something else. Nature’s paths are many, and the mass killer who randomly kills Columbine style, could very well be killing some person who might give birth to someone who studies well as a nice scientist who ends up developing virulent poisons for some souless ‘Weyland-Yutani’ (refer to Aliens 1989 – Ridley Scott) type GMO/Genesplicing-toting corporation, or develops mind control technology that vicious minded dictators will destroy the free will of man with, or even brings black plague to the American continent etc.. . . . in the past? WHO ARE ANY TO DARE BLOCK FATE?

Here’s one mass murder that could have averted a Red Alert ‘Yuri’ (2001 EA Games) scenario where the world ends with all Humanity wiped out by mind control. Imagine if the below Holmes character got together with Biopolis Neuroscience Singapore and developed mind control technology that was inserted into BABIES brains at nanoscale or National Service Trainees on their 18th birthdays . . . aren’t we all glad Holmes flipped out instead of becoming a ‘Kroenen Nazi’ (Hellboy I – Guillermo del Toro 2004) under the employ of Nepotistic Dictator types?

Perhaps an intergalactic war could be averted because a cockroach was not stepped on and some insect-like aliens were pleased into putting that planet into the lower priority conquest list (lets return after conquest of planets that stomp on bugs more than this one . . . ). How does one know? Perhaps because some pedophile killed in this life (for those who believe in rebirth) because in a past life that pedophile was killed by that same child who victimised them? Do we know how this works? Know past, present, and future? If some kid dresses sexy in some abstruse manner that keeps pedophiles distracted so that they do not become a sexually frustrated and trigger happy nuke fire control person (if I were a military chief of a country with nukes, I’d make very sure that Mr.Push-the-Red-Button is well laid and has all the poon and sex he wants ALL THE TIME), that would kill millions and irradiate the planet. This would require an adult services industry for the unmarried AND a legal system where multiple wives were legal and upfront so that both married and unmarried types will have access. The spin off benefit would be that 2nd Amendment Rights would be very safe to have as well – Mr.Redneck would be happy knowing he could kill you with a shot and thus does not feel the need to go on a killing spree, though genuine psychos could well still be present! Check the mindsets of the potential buyers, licence guns etc. but to prohibit is stupid and insulting to intelligence, which again could upset people into smuggling and using guns as often as they can in some oblique form of protest at lack of right to bear arms!

I’d say lets turn the whole world into a red light district that also has organic psychedelics bars, distribute land and wealth equally, so that everyone was relaxed and pleasantly distracted than being put into situations that cause, frustrate or necessitate them to want to bend reality even as they bend in reality’s wind. See the angriest religion? The most capitalist country? Guess how unqualified they are to be morally pure/fiscally sound but so willing to commit acts of terror/so bankrupt . . . And here we have @jezebel wanting to diss ‘kids trying to be sexy’. These PERSONS (do not labelise as kids) are doing something not so nice as viewed by most of us who do not like that sort of thing, but sure as hell if adults don’t understand (much like heteros will never understand some people are gay, or bisexual), adults better shut up and see whether the kids or insane or the pedos are taking our souls or saving the world first, before firing socialised abuse without any warning, much less killing shots (in collusion with an already insane psychiatric establishment) that destroys persons engaging in general discussions on ideas like ‘kids trying to be sexy’.

We are not party to these people, have no right to judge, but can and should study and ask why and how FIRST, yet not condemn or prevent except in cases of coercion or unwanted and abusive grooming. This really is the best way – Live and Let Live . . . because things happen for a reason and must happen. That person left unmurdered could result in the murder of millions more simply because the system took out or disabled the would be murderer first. The fact might be that a murder in a particular neighbourhood was necessary! Lots of very bad people who have not been punished in former lives, dare think to presume to let them escape when ‘Punishers Through Time’ appear on the scene? How close or well studied are any to say? There will indeed be signs and thieves of signs covering up for more on the run from justice . . . stay the judgment from a past life but punishment will still arrive.

Civilise or stop a murderer and another will arise to claim the prize, do the job . . . Legion is many and reaches the ends of all civilisations and sentients in the Universe, Mankind cannot even manage their own planet’s ecology, preserve and maintain species diversiy or raise their lesser setient charges to a state of equality (try Cetaceans and Canines, Felines even Rodents) much less handle issues of equality and abuse in societies within Humanity on Earth . . .

‘God’ or ‘Nature’ created EVERYTHING, including the birthers, predators and cullers, quakers, Earthquakers of who and whatever. A cyle of life across time and dimensions needs predators or overpopulation will destroy or cause harm to societies of the prey. Thwart that immense will and unseen intent at severe cost to the Universe, to indulge the evil of one’s own fat or sanctimonious ego . . . This response is NOT intended or to be twisted to be in favour of sex oriented paedophiles (FINALLY – the word paedophile is not necessarily sexual btw, just straightening out hegelian dialectic floating around the use and abuse of the word demogogue style.Declaring one’s own ‘paedophilia’ (not recommended these days until the above written sinks in) is not sexual deviancy – good understanding of vocabulary says so current trends have twisted the word out of context – LEARN about hegelian dialectic and apply against government!!! . . . , so now think back to how people who dislike kids are really almost safer and less mentally exhaustive to be around in certain ways, yer lazy brains . . . bleeeeeeeeuuuuuurrrrrrrrrgh indeed.